


I'm Not in the Position to Ask For Favors, But...

by Killyouwithmybrain



Series: Don't Look Back [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-03-24 22:14:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 66,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3786187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killyouwithmybrain/pseuds/Killyouwithmybrain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Jack.<br/>The Avengers are left reeling after Skye and Jack take off. They can't find anything on Skye, Jack, or the company that has them so scared - Centipede.<br/>Then Skye emails, asking for a favor. Suddenly, it is easy to see why Centipede could evoke such fear.</p><p>This story will be darker than Jack, but I'm throwing in as much fluff and snark as I can to lighten it up. I may decide to change the rating for certain chapters and will post warnings on the chapters that have the dark stuff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Skye keeps her word

**Author's Note:**

> **Centipede won't be the same in this story as it is in AOS. I like to think of this as the -Pre-Centipede- version. John Garrett isn't involved, nor is Raina. It's a made up plot line that hypothetically happens before either of them get involved.  
> **I've just written Hydra out of this story. Steve doesn't find/fight The Winter Soldier and Fury doesn't "die". 
> 
> I don't own anything, except Jack. I'm just going to post that here once, then give credit within the chapters as necessary.

Skye kept her word.

3 months passed without any contact.

Then six.

Then nine.

The team had known her for a matter of hours, but she had made an impression. They were still absorbed in the mystery she presented.

Steve was brooding. Despite his best attempts, and Tasha's...and Clint's, Skye was still gone. She had vanished minutes after walking out of the Tower. She had erased all the footage that she was in, both in the Tower, at the park, and the path where they had met running. She disrupted every security camera in a three block radius of the Tower for ten minutes, then used that time to hide. Steve knew something had happened in those three blocks; she had some way of getting out of eyesight. They would have found her otherwise. So every morning, after his run, he wandered around the blocks trying to find her portal out. It was pointless, especially after this long, but it was better than sitting in the Tower watching Tony struggle with the security system he was supposed to have hacked months ago. Steve was a man of action. There was nothing he hated more than being useless.

Tony was brooding too, though it was less unusual for him. He spent a lot of time in his labs, either building something, anything, to keep his hands busy or searching for information. He still didn't know any more about Centipede than he had nine months ago. There was literally nothing of use to find; no blue prints, no financial records, not even internet gossip. He didn't know what they did – or why Skye was so scared of them.

He couldn't find anything on her either. It was like she didn't exist. He had guessed Skye wasn't her real name, and had no idea what her last name was. Every time she introduced herself, she used a different last name. Usually some sort of pun. He had even looked under Chang, the name Jack had given. He had given up looking for information on her and tried looking for her brother. He was just as thoroughly erased. He went back as far as thirty years, knowing the kids weren't any older than that. He growled his frustrations, cursing Skye and her ability to erase things so completely.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“This might work,” Tony muttered, playing with some schematics. They were still trying to figure out how to get past the security system. Tony could do it; he just couldn't do it _discretely_. Fury was furious that the stealth mission had yet to happen, but couldn't really complain. After all, he couldn't make it work either. Tony uploaded the program into a mockup and ran it, cursing when the pretend security immediately went off. Tony threw a screwdriver at the wall.

“Nothing?” Tasha asked, walking into his lab with two cups of coffee. She handed one to him.

“Nothing.” Tony replied, taking a sip of the hot beverage.

“When's the last time you slept?” Tasha asked, pulling herself onto his workbench.

“Caught a few hours last night.”

“When you passed out over your computer?” Tasha asked innocently. Tony didn't reply. He didn't have to; she had obviously been watching the security feeds. “Have you emailed her?”

“Not for a while. She didn't respond to the first...however many. I doubt she would do it now.” Tony replied.

“It's been months since you've tried direct contact. Maybe things have changed. You should try again. Isn't your birthday coming up? Invite her to that. Drop the whole Centipede thing, drop the safety issues...just be...Tony.” Tasha grinned. Tony rolled his eyes at her but pulled up his email.

“Sir, there is an incoming email from Miss Skye,” Jarvis announced. Tony could see the email pop up on his screen. He frowned at Tasha.

“Why now?” He muttered, staring at the screen.

“Well, open it and find out, глупый (stupid).” Tasha replied, setting down her coffee and hijacking Tony's computer.

**I know I'm not in any position to ask for favors, but please get them back. Take everyone. Please be safe.**

**S**

“What are these attachments?” Tony asked, nodding to the screen. “Jarvis?”

Jarvis opened the files and projected them onto the numerous screens above his work space. Five young faces peered back at him. There were short files attached to each child's picture, detailing where to return the child to and anything the Avengers needed to know about that child. One, in particular, had a nasty asthma problem and could they please take an inhaler?

In addition to the children, there were a dozen Shield files. Skye had hand picked specialists that she wanted to accompany the Avengers. There were two scientists' files as well, though Skye made it clear that she didn't want them in the field. They were working on a project that would help them on this mission, though they didn't know it. Skye attached the specs of the project and left a few notes, which Tony assumed were for the scientists themselves. There was an attachment of crude blueprints, obviously made by hand. Having seen Skye's handwriting in Steve's notebook, Tony assumed this was Jack's work. Finally, Skye attached a file that would get them past the security.

“Why is Centipede taking kids?” Tasha asked first.

“How does Skye know they're taking kids?” Tony questioned next. “We can't find anything on them.”

“Why didn't you call us in when you got that email?” Clint asked, coming into the lab with Steve right behind him.

“Relax, we just got it.”

“Christ, they're just kids,” Clint muttered, stepping closer to look at the files. “I don't think any of them are older than...four? Five?”

“That's an _infant_ ,” Steve pointed out, though they could all see it.

“They're all in the system,” Tasha sighed, flipping what she found onto the big screen alongside the kids' files. “Four in foster care, one homeless.”

“Children no one would miss.” Steve commented.

“We're going to go get them, right?” Clint asked, frowning. He had been one of those children - in and out of foster care until he ran away with the circus.

“Of course we're going to go get them.” Tony replied flippantly. “Cap and Red can finally complete their mission. Skye's given us the programming we need to get around security. You'll need to go talk to Fury and get him on board with the rest though.”

“The rest?” Steve asked.

“Skye pulled specialists she wants to go with us. And we need to find these two scientists. Skye made it seem like whatever this project is will be pretty important to our success.”

“Christ,” Clint muttered, still peering through the attachments. “We might have better luck convincing Fury if all of us go. Let him know how serious it is.”

“Look at who she pulled,” Tasha commented to Steve, opening the specialists' files. “Ward, May, Triplett...Coulson? Christ, her information is out of date.”

Tasha pulled up the original email and replied to it, letting Skye know the information was out of date. The responding email was immediate.

 **Maybe** _**your** _ **information is out of date, girlfriend.**

**S**

“What does she mean by that?” Clint asked, frowning. “He's dead. It's not like you can update that. Besides, May retired from the field. Last I heard she was pushing papers.”

“Let me shower and we can go talk to Fury.” Tony commented. They wouldn't get anywhere talking in circles.

“I'm going to grab some breakfast,” Steve nodded. Clint and Tasha stayed in the lab after the other two left.

“Think they were there?” Clint asked softly, seeing Tasha's mask was well in place.

“She was so scared of them. _We_ don't even know what they are, what they do, but she did. Plus, look at these blueprints. They're hand drawn. Jack's work, if I had to guess. If they found actual blueprints, they would have just sent us those.”

“And whatever you saw on Skye when she was disabling Tony's camera,” Clint added softly. It had happened months ago, but she knew exactly what he was talking about. The circular scars had healed and faded over time, but were still somewhat visible. Especially to someone like Tasha. She had her own scars like that. Tasha wondered how young Skye was when she received the wounds that would fade into her scars.

“We're not going to like whatever we find in that building,” Tasha sighed, wrapping her arms around Clint's waist. He wrapped his arms around her and nodded his agreement.

 


	2. Assembling the Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers go to Director Fury to gain permission to use the specialists and scientists Skye requested.

 An hour later, the four stood in front of Director Fury's desk, waiting for his response to their request. They had left Skye out of it, instead letting it seem like Tony had collected the information. Any of the other three could have supplied the list of Specialists. They were waiting for the ball to drop when Fury realized Coulson's file was in the list.

“You're taking this well,” Fury said finally, tossing the papers down. Coulson's file was on top. The Avengers fought to contain their surprise.

“So we are free to proceed, sir?” Steve asked, carefully keeping his face composed.

“Agents Ward and May are on Agent Coulson's team. They're in the field, but I'll call them back. The scientists you want are also on his team. You can round up the other specialists on your own. They are all on location.”

Tasha elbowed Tony subtly when he opened his mouth to speak. His angry expression could only get them in trouble.

“If we admit we didn't know, we risk involving _her_. Bite your tongue,” Tasha whispered. Tony's entire body went rigid, but he nodded, reluctantly accepting her logic. When the four left the office to round up the other specialists, Tony finally broke his silence.

“I just want to know how the fuck this is possible.” Tony grumbled angrily.

“We can interrogate Coulson when we see him,” Steve replied decisively. “Shall we split up? Tasha and Clint, check the gym. I'll check the offices and infirmary. Tony, you call Banner and Miss Foster. We'll meet in conference room 3.”

“Coulson's team will be arriving in Bravo Dock in three hours.” Tasha informed the group, getting the message from Fury first. “Maybe we should postpone the meeting until they're here. I can book Conference room 3 and we can tell the Specialists to be there at 1.”

“Good. We can brief Bruce and Thor when they get here. I'm assuming the scientists will need time to work on Skye's specs, so we'll have to adjust our time line based on how long it will take everyone to get here and the science done.” Steve agreed. Clint smirked slightly at Tasha, amused by the warm tone Steve's voice took on when he mentioned Skye. Tasha smiled back, shaking her head.

As amusing as Clint found it, it was sad really. Steve had to be around Tony and Pepper, who were happily together, and Clint and herself. Hell, even Thor had Jane. Steve deserved the same happiness. She just wasn't sure he was going to find it in anyone but Skye. Maybe if they took the entire operation down, Skye would come out of hiding. Tasha's grin widened, making Clint raise an eyebrow at her. She waited until they were well away from Steve before explaining her thinking to Clint.

“It's worth a damn good shot.” Clint agreed. “If these aren't the people they're hiding from, maybe she'll let us take them down after she sees us in action.”

“I don't think she doesn't trust us...” Tasha mused. “I think she is just that scared of them.”

“Potato, Poh-tato.” Clint shrugged. Tasha laughed and opened the door to the gym. It was always a good bet to look for Specialists there.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“I am not sure I understand,” Agent Ward commented, looking at his file.

“Surprise, that.” The male scientist giggled. The two scientists, a man and a woman, had introduced themselves as Fitzsimmons, and Steve couldn't remember which one was Fitz and which one was Simmons.

“Fitz!” The woman, Simmons, hissed in a strong British accent.

“What? You were thinking it.” Fitz replied, grumbling in a Scottish accent. He grabbed another pretzel from the bowl in front of him. Apparently, he had brought it from the plane. Agent Ward seemed to have limited patience for the two. He shot the two a look and then refocused his attention on Steve, who was leading the meeting. After all, he was the leader of the Avengers. Agent Ward held up a paper.

“Why are the only specs we have on the building _hand drawn_?”

“Since when do you worry about things like that, Agent Ward?” Clint asked. His dislike of the man was apparent. When pressed, Clint admitted hard feelings from his interactions with Ward during the younger man's time at the Academy.

“Since we know nothing about what's inside.”

“You've done missions with less information,” Tasha replied dryly.

“Agent Ward,” Agent May said softly. Her stoney demeanor shut Agent Ward up.

“You're right, we don't have a lot of information. Agent Romanov and I were supposed to go in months ago and gather intel,” Steve addressed the room. “These people are so good that we couldn't get past their security until very recently. Unfortunately, they've taken children and that pushes our time line up. Agent Fitz, Agent Simmons, we have a request of you two.”

Tony pushed the two apart and wheeled his chair between them, handing them each a copy of the specs with the notes Skye left for them. Fitz gave an excited little squeal and leaned past Tony to talk to Simmons.

“Tony Stark knows my work.” He said quickly, beaming.

“Tony Stark is sitting right here,” Tony muttered. Fitz turned bright red and nodded.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, sir.” He said quickly. His words were said so quickly that Tony had a hard time catching them all.

“What he means, sir,” Simmons added, twisting Tony's chair towards her. “Is that it's an honor you've decided to use _our_ work on this mission.”

“Our work?” Fitz spluttered. He held up the specs and twisted Tony back his way. “See this? All of this is mine...”

“It wouldn't work without my dendrotoxin,” Simmons corrected, grabbing Tony's chair.

“Fitzsimmons,” Coulson sighed, finally walking into the room. Fury had detained him as soon as their mobile command had landed.

“Sorry, sir.” They replied in unison.

“I'm just going to go stand over there...” Tony muttered, vacating his seat and heading back for Steve. Steve did his best to hide his amusement; now he could see why Ward had such limited patience with them. They were obviously bright – the youngest graduates of the Academy – but failed to pick up on basic social cues.

“Nice of you to join us, Sir.” Clint said stonily, addressing Agent Coulson.

“We can talk afterward.” Coulson winced.

“Yes, sir. We will.” Clint nodded.

“Do you think you can make the modifications?” Steve asked Fitzsimmons, ignoring Coulson for the moment. He wasn't sure he could hide his anger as well as Clint was doing. Fitzsimmons looked at each other with a look of exasperation.

“We'll need a bit of time-” Fitz started.

“-to adjust the dendrotoxin-” Simmons interrupted easily.

“-and create new hardware to these specs-” Fitz didn't seem affected by the back and forth.

“-but it shouldn't be an issue.”

“Sir.” They both replied, grinning at him. Coulson's team seemed undisturbed by them, so Steve assumed this was normal for them.

“Maybe they share a brain,” Tasha whispered behind Steve's shoulder. Steve smirked and shook his head, amused by their antics.

“If you'd like-” Fitz grinned, aware they were talking about them.

“We could go start now.” Simmons finished, looking expectant.

“Of course,” Steve nodded, dismissing them with a wave. “Let Tony know if you need any help or materials.”

“He offered _us_ Iron Man!” Fitz whispered loudly to Simmons before placing another pretzel in his mouth.

“He offered us Mr. Stark,” Simmons corrected, only slightly quieter. The entire conference room could hear them. “Iron Man is the muscle-” Simmons performed a pathetically substandard punch/kick combo, “-Mr. Stark is the brain.”

“Thanks for throwing me under the bus,” Tony muttered. Steve grinned at him.

“Now I know why she didn't want them in the field,” Tasha winced, probably still thinking about Simmons' display of athleticism.

“Make sure you bring that bowl back to the Bus, it's my favorite.” Simmons was telling Fitz as they headed to the door.

“I didn't know if they would have snacks and I was feeling a bit peckish!” Fitz defended, closing the door behind them. Agent Ward had his face in his hands.

“Skye would love them,” Clint grinned. The Avengers all smiled fondly at the thought.

“They're not always that bad,” Coulson offered. Ward snorted his disagreement. “They're just excited. They'll calm down...marginally.”

“Okay, they're working on something that will help us take down whomever is inside that compound,” Steve addressed the room again. “Once Dr. Banner and Thor have joined us, and their...science...is done, we'll schedule a briefing. Don't go far. This will happen fast.”

“We get the Hulk?” Agent Triplett asked with a worried expression. “How bad do you expect it to be?”

“We were told to take everyone we had.” Tony replied, before biting his tongue. Steve and Tasha both glared over at him, and Clint smacked the back of his head. So much for keeping Skye out of it.

“You have a source?” Ward asked, raising his eyebrow. “Does that explain this?”

“He just can't drop it, can he?” Clint muttered, ignoring the blueprints Ward was holding up again.

“Don't worry about it, Agent Ward.” Steve told him in his firmest Captain America voice. Then he turned back to the room. “Keep your phones on. Dismissed.”

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“I _was_ dead,” Agent Coulson explained, keeping Agent May nearby in case one of the Avengers lost patience with him.

“And you just came back to life?” Clint snorted.

“Well...no, it was a bit more complicated than that.” Coulson frowned. “Highly classified. I don't even know most of the details. I was dead for days...but they injected me with something and that healed me.”

“It healed death?” Tony asked skeptically.

“Sounds alien,” Clint muttered.

“It was.” Coulson nodded. “Honestly, that's all I know about the science behind it. It wasn't my idea to keep you guys in the dark, but Fury can be...well, Fury.”

“I'm glad you're still with us,” Clint offered finally, getting up to hug his one time mentor. Tasha came over to join the hug.

“Even though we're still pissed,” She added. Coulson winced at her tone but returned their hugs. At one point, he had been their handler. They meant a lot to him.

“You guys gonna tell me about this source you're so protective over?” Coulson asked once the moment had passed.

“Nope,” Steve and Tony replied at the same time. They glanced at each other and smirked.

“Oh, they're friends now?” Coulson asked, raising an eyebrow at the exchange.

“Someone brought them together,” Tasha shrugged. Coulson assumed she meant him and blushed. He didn't know she was talking about Skye.

“So really, you're not going to tell me anything?”

“Need to know, sir.” Clint shrugged.

“And you don't need to know,” Tony nodded.

“Did Stark find a long lost child of his?” Agent May asked dryly. “His dad is showing.”

“Ha, ha. Very funny.” Tony muttered. No one denied her claim though, which she didn't miss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I kind of glazed over the whole finding out Coulson wasn't dead thing - but I feel like it's been done a million times and I couldn't find a way to put a new spin on it. The Avengers are angry he kept it a secret, but ultimately are glad he's alive. Period.


	3. Breaking Out the Muscle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers (and Specialists) complete Skye's favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be out of town for a few days, so you guys get an early update.

 

 

 

“Alright guys, I need a few minutes to get past the security then we go in. Stealth first; we can't risk them harming the children.” Tony told the team from his suit. Someone on coms sighed.

“Don't waste your clips,” Steve added.

“Make sure you hit the port or the chemical...”

“Dendrotoxin,” Simmons' voice interrupted.

“-won't do any good.” Tasha finished.

“Coulson, you got the bag?” Clint asked, watching Tony's back as he hacked.

“Yes, mom.” Coulson replied. Clint grinned; Death had loosened Coulson up, for the better.

“We don't know what they're doing in there, or why they want the kids. Be careful, but be on guard.” Steve reminded.

“We've gone over all of this,” One of the Specialists commented. Tony and Clint exchanged a look, waiting for the noise of pain. After a moment, there was a smack and then a hiss of pain.

“There is no harm going over it again,” Steve's voice commented through the coms. Clint grinned.

“Done,” Tony muttered, opening the doors.

**I like that program. You should put me in touch with your IT person. ;) Good luck. Be safe.**

“Shit.” Tony muttered, reading the words that flashed across the screen in his helmet.

“What's wrong,” Clint asked, peering over Tony's shoulder.

“She just hacked my suit.”

**Stop being dramatic, Dad.**

“Anything helpful to add?” Clint grinned, knowing who “she” was.

“Steve, Tasha,” Tony called into his coms, “ _She_ wishes us good luck. And says we better be safe.”

“Did she now,” Steve muttered dryly. They could hear Tasha laughing in the background. They didn't need Tony to spell out who he was talking about.

“Let's go,” Clint grinned. He felt better knowing Skye was watching. She could offer Tony on the spot advice if it was needed.

The team separated into four groups, spreading out to locate the children quickly. Based on Jack's blue prints, they had a good idea where the children might be so they sent Coulson's team there first. It was surprisingly quiet in the compound. There was no security to sneak past, not beyond the initial system that Tony had over-ridden. 

"Where is everybody?" Steve asked, sneaking down a mostly dark hallway. 

"Maybe they leave for the night?" Tasha suggested.

"Or maybe we're in the wrong place," A specialist muttered.

**I promise you're in the right place. Coulson is practically there.**

Before Tony could relay the message, Coulson's voice came through the coms in a loud whisper.

“I found them. They're sleeping, I think. They appear to be unharmed.”

“Get the vests on them, Coulson.” Clint whispered back.

There was background noise as Coulson and his team roused the children, resulting in tears from all of the children. Coulson could be heard calming them down, then Velcro as the children were fitted into the child-size safety vests. One boy thought they were being taken by more bad guys and his asthma acted up.

“It's okay, I've got an inhaler,” Coulson murmured through the coms. He dug through the bag and handed the boy the inhaler. After a few moments, the boy's wheezing faded.

“I've got more,” Tasha whispered softly. “These ones have been here longer. Christ, what are they doing to these kids?”

“How many?” Steve asked.

“Rough count? 15. Some of them are older. We're gonna need help getting them out. Some won't walk out on their own.”

“Romanov, continue your mission. Take May with you. Group 3, head to her location.”

**Don't send them there.**

“Wait, Group 3.”

“Why not?” Tony asked, turning his coms off for a second.

**They'll have their own problem.**

Tony turned his coms back on just in time to hear Group 3 engage with the guards.

“Holy shit, they're strong,” Agent Ward muttered, taking one on.

“Definitely enhanced.” Steve agreed, watching a guard send a specialist flying. “Try your clips.”

“What port?” Ward wondered, then saw the glowing orange spine on the man's neck. He struggled for several minutes to get close enough, then shoved Fitzsimmons' device onto it. He breathed a sigh of relief when the man dropped. “Guys, the Super Guards have an orange device on their neck. Fitzsimmons' device works if you get it on the orange device.”

“Noted,” Groups 1, 2, and 4 acknowledged.

“Group 2 heading out with cargo,” Coulson added. Group 3 didn't respond for a few minutes, but the fighting noise was gradually dying down.

“Now I know why two couldn't do this,” Steve said softly. He heard Tasha's grunt of acknowledgment. She and May had run into two guards on their way to the computer room. “Remind me to thank Fitzsimmons for their tech.”

“You're welcome,” They both replied into the coms. Steve laughed tiredly at their synchronization.

**Tell Ms. Romanov not to go in that room.**

“Red, skip that room.” Tony sighed, passing along information he had no context for.

“Why?” Tasha asked, sounding more curious than defiant.

“She said to.”

**Mr. Stark, you're about to have company. Head left.**

“Heads up,” Tony told his group, turning down the left hallway.

**10 guards, but there are kids beyond them.**

“10 incoming.” Tony told his group.

“How does he know that?” Someone muttered. Clint raised an eyebrow and Tony nodded. Clint looked around and spotted the camera in the hall. Apparently Skye had taken them over. He grinned and waved at it.

Jarvis said Skye's words out loud, blaring them through Tony's helmet:

**Get your head in the game before you're flattened.**

“Barton!” Tony barked, just as the guards came around the corner.

“Shit. They're big.” Clint commented, reaching back for an arrow. Fitz had hurriedly equipped a few of his arrows with the dendrotoxin. He was a good enough shot that he could do the same job the specialists were doing, but from a distance.

**You're going to need Banner on your team, there are more incoming.**

“Banner, to my location.” Tony called into his coms.

“On the way,” Banner acknowledged, leaving Coulson's team.

**Send Thor to help Stevie.**

“Thor, head to Group 3.”

“Stark, we're good.” Steve argued.

“Well, then you're not for long.” Tony replied calmly, using one of Fitzsimmons' devices to take down a guard. The port was on this guard's shoulder, stupidly exposed through a thin shirt. “Thought Ward said it was on the neck.”

“Oh,” Steve sighed, seeing another squad of guards heading their way. This group was bigger than the last. He was already tired. The clips from Fitzsimmons were very helpful, but you still had to struggle through the Super Guard's defenses to get close enough to slap them on.

“Have no fear, my good Captain.” Thor rumbled, racing his way. Tony could practically hear Steve's eye roll and laughed. Banner found Tony's group just as they were overrun by more guards.

“Fall back,” Banner grumbled, his voice turning deep. He was holding off the Hulk until his team was clear.

“All clear,” Tony called. Within minutes, the guards were decimated...as was a significant part of the hallway.

**Well, I'm sure Barton can wiggle through there, but take a different route with the kids.**

Tony laughed and relayed the message to Clint.

“He is a bit destructive, huh?” Clint said fondly, watching the Hulk.

**The Hulk should be done. I don't see any more guards in your area, besides what Stevie and Thor are cleaning up.**

“Thanks, sweetheart.” Tony muttered softly, forgetting to turn his coms off.

“Why is he talking to Pepper?” One of the specialists asked as they clambered over the debris that the Hulk had left.

“Banner, go catch up with Coulson. You're going to crash soon.” Tony told the man-beast, ignoring the question.

“Hulk done?” He asked, cocking his head at Tony.

“Yeah, buddy. You're done.”

The Hulk nodded and blundered away, kicking debris as he went.

**Whoops, missed a few by Coulson.**

“Group 2 could use some assistance,” Coulson gasped. They had lost two of their team and had gained five small children.

“I'll go,” Clint nodded. He grabbed two other specialists and ran for Coulson's location. Tony looked around the hall, wondering where he was supposed to go now. This section of the compound wasn't on the blueprints, but it still had the new construction smell, so that didn't surprise him much. There was a large, double door at the end of the hall, so he headed for that.

**STOP STOP STOP**

Tony froze, surprised by Skye's panicked typing.

**Don't open that door. Something about a Ward and May?**

Tony sighed and turned his coms off, indicating to his team that they should wait.

“Jack?”

**Get Ward and May.**

“I have my own specialists. Why do I need those two?”

**Um, something about a gun with dendro...something?**

“What happened to Skye?”

**She's fine. Get them.**

Tony sighed and activated his coms.

“Agents Ward, May I need you at my location. Do you guys have guns with the dendrotoxin?”

“How did you know?” Ward asked.

“It's not the same,” Fitz interrupted.

“The dosages are much lower. The icers won't take out a super guard,” Simmons agreed.

"I told you, they're called Night Night Guns," Fitz grumbled.

"And I told you we're not calling them that." Ward retorted.

"Well when you design your own weaponry, you can name it!" Fitz replied with heat. Simmons and May sighed. They had heard it before.

"Ward, Fitz. Drop it." Coulson said firmly. There was crying in the background of his coms.

**There aren't more guards.**

“We don't need the whatever gun for guards,” Tony replied.

“In route,” Ward muttered.

“What's going on?” Steve asked.

“Not sure yet,” Tony replied. “Did you find anything yet?”

“The guards were all defending a door, so we're in the process of getting into that room.” Steve replied.

“What. The. Hell,” Fitz whispered into his coms. Simmons said something too rapidly to catch, her voice a very (uncomfortably) high squeak. “Shut your bloody mouth.”

“Fitzsimmons, what's happening?” Steve asked, his heavy breathing audible through the line. There was another unintelligible squeak from Simmons and an embarrassed sigh from Fitz.

“Everything is fine. Just fine. Uh, the Hulk...I mean, Dr. Banner...just stumbled through.” Fitz replied, obviously trying, and failing, to sound nonchalant about the whole experience. Steve laughed into his coms.

“Don't worry, he won't hurt you. He's just looking for somewhere to crash.”

“Well, the plane hasn't...” Fitz started, then abruptly stopped. “Yep, nope. He's down. The whole plane just shook. Bloody hell, I'm glad he's on our side.”

“That makes two of us, buddy.” Steve replied, his amusement still evident. There was a long silence on the coms, until they clicked on and typing could be heard in the background.

“I'm going to be sick,” Tasha muttered into the coms. She had been tasked with retrieving the data from their computers.

“Tasha?” Clint asked, his tone worried.

“I know why she didn't want me in that room...I've got all the data off their servers and wiped them. Where would you like me?”

“I'm coming back in,” Clint told her. “We got the kids to the Bus. Coulson's team is staying with them.”

“You two, head to Cap's location.”

“Roger that,” Clint giggled, transparently trying to break the tension.

“Barton...” Steve sighed.

Ward and May showed up at Tony's location.

“What do you need the icers for?” May asked.

**There are kids in that room. Ice them all. Please don't hurt them, they can't help it.**

“Really?” Tony asked in disbelief.

**Trust us.**

“You got it, kid.” Tony muttered, then relayed the instructions to Agent Ward and Agent May. Agent May raised an eyebrow in silent surprise, but didn't argue. Ward looked at her and then followed her lead. Tony and another specialist each grabbed a handle, then opened them so Ward and May had a clear shot.

The kids in the room were less kids and more teens. They looked up when the doors slammed open then, acting as one cohesive group, attacked. Ward and May shot teen after teen, until there was a pile of teenagers on the floor. They missed one teen and she attacked on her own, surprisingly holding her own against Agent Ward. Agent May took the girl down with an icer round, then turned to offer Ward a small smile.

“I think she could have taken you,” May smirked.

“Shut up,” Ward scowled.

“We've got about twenty teens down,” Tony said into his coms. “Gonna need help extracting them.”

“Group 3 has twelve.” Steve commented. He sighed. “Some of these kids are in rough shape. We're going to need to get them to medical ASAP.”

“Group 4, how is your extraction going?” Tony asked, talking to the group Tasha had been with initially.

“Almost done,” Agent Triplett replied. “There are a few crazies in the bunch, OUCH!, but it's going smoothly. We're going to need a bigger plane.”

“I'll radio in to Shield,” Steve noted, then broke contact.

“Alright, we need to start securing the guards. I don't know how long this dendrotoxin is going to keep them knocked out. Group 4, once your kids are secure on the Bus, join us. Group 2, you stay on the Bus with the kids.”

“Aw, babysitting duty?” Someone muttered.

“Cute baby duty,” Coulson crooned. “Yes, someone is a cute baby.” Tony grinned.

“Somebody please get me a picture.” Clint laughed.

“Group 3, start hauling your group to the Bus. Then head back in for the guards.”

“Got it.”

“Shield is sending help,” Steve commented, reconnecting to the coms.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

Tony stepped away from the team for a minute, turning his coms off.

“Jack?” He asked softly.

**She's okay.**

“Don't lie to me.” There was a long pause. Long enough that Tony started getting worried. “Jack?”

**Relax, Dad. I'm fine. Tell Archer Man there's a good picture of Coulson asleep with a baby on the Bus' security feed.**

“Thanks for the help today,” Tony grinned.

**Thanks for going in. And for trusting us.**

“You coming back yet?” Tony asked, the hope painfully obvious in his voice. When she didn't answer, he asked the question that had been plaguing him. “Were you guys ever in this compound?” Tony asked, softly. He hoped the answer was no.

**I'm glad you're all safe. We're out.**

“Skye!” Tony hissed. She meant it though; no more transmissions came through his helmet. “Fuck.”

 

 

 0-0-0-0-0

 

“Is she coming back?” Tasha asked softly, watching Tony. He shook his head.

“Didn't answer me. Doubt it.”

“We didn't get anyone important – scientists, whoever is supplying the bankroll, support staff?” Clint listed. “Not that getting the kids out of there wasn't important, but we haven't stopped anything. They can just start over somewhere else.”

“The people we need to stop are still out there.” Tony nodded. There was a flash of lightening from the other side of the building. The Avengers took no notice; they were used to Thor coming and going. A few specialists that were nearby startled at the sudden weather though.

“So we find them.” Steve said firmly, joining the group. “Thor headed back to Asgard already. He was in the middle of something when we called him down.”

“This will be a good start,” Tasha murmured, holding up the hard drive she had copied everything onto. She looked faintly green.

“That bad?” Steve asked.

“Worse.” She replied. “Let's save it for tomorrow.”

“Let's go home.” Tony said tiredly. “Shield has the guards under control. I have no idea what they're going to do with the kids, but Coulson seems awfully protective of them. They'll be in good hands.”

“Yeah, that would be marvelous, but we rode in with Coulson,” Clint muttered dryly.

“Damn. Why would we do that?” Tony sighed.

“Someone wanted to check out Coulson's digs.” Tasha reminded him.

“Capsicle!” Tony gasped, hoping to spread the blame.

“Yeah, nice try.” Steve laughed, walking towards the Bus. “Dibs on a bunk, or a couch...hell, even a clean piece of floor.”

“Hey, he mastered _dibs_.” Clint mock whispered to Tasha. They both grinned when Steve turned around to shoot them a glare.

“Coulson's out cold on the couch,” May informed them as they walked up the ramp, smiling tiredly. “Help yourself to whatever you can find. I'm going to get us in the air.”

“Bruce made it in alright?” Clint asked May, looking around. May smiled and nodded.

“Scared the crap out of the engineers. I think he's down in the mechanical lab.”

“I say we take the day tomorrow. Just not come in. Thoughts?” Tony asked, shedding his Iron Man suit as he walked. It folded up neatly into a briefcase built specifically for it. Steve pulled the top half of his suit off, revealing a plain white shirt underneath. "Oh, we can get some more shawarma!"

"Uh, no." Tasha groaned. "Not again."

“Oh, couch,” Steve grinned, eyeing the couch in Coulson's office. He tossed his Spangled top on it. “Dibs.”

He turned to face the rest of his team, plopping himself down on the couch, smiling proudly at his claim.

“Fine, I'll take the bed.” Stark grinned, opening a door at the back of Coulson's office to reveal his bedroom.

“Damn.” Steve muttered.

“I'll share with you,” Tony grinned, wagging an eyebrow.

“No. I'm never sharing with you again.”

“Come on, you know Merida and Spidey are going to do their whole compact sleeping thing, so they're fine with the couch. Come join me.” Tony laughed.

“No! Last time you spooned me and played with my butt,” Steve muttered, forgetting to censor himself because he was so exhausted.

“Does that make you uncomfortable? Would you rather share with Spidey?”

“Well, yeah. She's...a girl?”

“God, I wish Jack were here right now,” Clint laughed.

“You know the couch pulls out, right?” Fitz offered helpfully. He was, once again, eating pretzels. He handed one to the small boy on his back, grinned at the four, and headed down the hall.

“Don't make us share with Tony,” Tasha muttered to Steve. “I need like...an hour...of uninterrupted sleep. Just an hour. Please.”

“Fine!” Steve groaned, getting up from the couch. The three of them pulled the couch out and fixed the sheet that were tangled from being folded in the couch. Steve took one half and Clint and Tasha curled up together on the other half.

“See? Compact sleeping,” Tony muttered, heading into the bedroom alone. In no time, the four were out cold.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find Thor SUPER hard to write, so he's not really going to be in this story. He's doing vague Princely duties on Asgard.


	4. How old do you think I am, Dad?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson has some fun with his favorite superhero, Steve gets to know some of the kids, and the Team finds out what happens to the children in the compound.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Warning - this is one of the more explicit chapters. The second half will contain some graphic paragraphs.*

Steve woke first, though it took him a second to realize why. Tasha was curled up next to him, muttering in Russian. Judging by the scowl on her face and the angry tone of her words, she was having a nightmare. Clint adjusted behind her, pulling in closer without waking. He muttered something back in Russian and pressed a kiss to her neck. She seemed to calm; her face smoothed out and she sighed. Then Steve realized there was a baby sleeping on his chest. He glanced up and saw Coulson at his desk. Coulson raised his eyebrow in his signature smirk.

“Sorry.” Coulson shrugged.

“I very much doubt that,” Steve whispered back.

“I got a text informing me you guys had blackmail material on me...so I decided to get some of my own.” Coulson replied.

“A text? From whom?” Steve asked, sitting up slowly and removing himself from the couch. He kept the baby pressed to his chest, but bounced slightly when it fussed. Steve murmured to the baby, “It's okay there, little guy.”

“Friend of yours, as I understand it.” Coulson shrugged. Steve's phone vibrated in his pocket, so he shuffled the baby slowly into the nook of his elbow so he could pull it out.

**You'll have a baby with him, but not me? You whore.**

If Steve had a free hand, he would have smacked himself.

“Your friend?” Coulson asked with a knowing grin. Steve nodded and opened the information on the text; of course, there was no number attached. Those two knew no boundaries. And why was Jack texting him and not Skye? She was the one he wanted to hear from.

**She'll probably kill me for doing this, but I was safer this time.**

**She was a nervous wreck about you guys going in there; she crashed about an hour ago.**

**We took some images from the security footage. Fantastic blackmail on Agent Coulson.**

**She mentioned Mr. Barton wanted pictures with the baby.**

**Take a selfie with your phone so I can steal it.**

Steve couldn't help but wonder how starved for attention Jack was as the texts kept rolling in. Also, what was a selfie? Steve couldn't reply back to them. Whatever Jack was doing, he was sending it to the phone, not through the phone.

**She's going to love the picture of you three cuddled up on the couch.**

**Might print that one off. Photoshop myself in.**

“Your friend will stop soon enough,” Coulson laughed, seeing Steve's exasperated expression.

**Yeah, when someone else wakes up.**

“You have cameras in here?” Steve asked. Coulson nodded, pointing to a discretely placed camera on the top shelf of the bookshelf. “Coulson, could I have the room for a second?”

“Sure thing, Cap.”

Coulson left without taking the baby. Steve sighed and brought the camera down to face height.

“Jack.”

**Stevie.**

“You're bored out of your mind, aren't you?” Steve asked quietly, trying to not wake the assassins sleeping behind him.

**You have no idea. We're in lock down mode.**

“Oh, I have an idea,” Steve replied dryly. “Skye won't even considering coming back until this whole mess is taken care of...so help us, help you. Any information you have would be helpful.”

**You're going to find plenty on that hard drive.**

**Got to go, she'll wake soon.**

**I'll give her a kiss from you.**

“Jack,” Steve hissed, blushing deep red.

**There's that adorable blush.**

Steve sighed and put the camera back. He knew he wasn't getting any more sleep, so he took the baby and headed out of the office. He found most of the other specialists in the common area, either dosing off or sipping some sort of alcoholic beverage. More than a few had a child or two on their laps.

There were a few children running around; the remaining four they had been sent in to rescue had quickly warmed to their saviors; the fifth child was the baby in Steve's elbow. A Disney movie was playing in the background, and there was a group of children staring up at it. Steve wondered if they were all pulled from the same room; they seemed to sit exceptionally close to each other - in oddly straight rows. They took turns watching the room, one by one, trying to remain inconspicuous with their surveillance. Steve shook his head. Children shouldn't have to worry about things like that.

Triplett had a bandage around his forearm and was bouncing a grinning child on his knee. The boy looked six or seven. His head was shaved, revealing some old scarring on his skull. Steve guessed he looked Greek, based on his skin tone and facial markers.

“I see you found the puker.” Trip smiled, glancing up at the baby.

“Lovely.” Steve replied, offering a small smile. He glanced down at the wrap in his arm, “You okay?”

“Yeah. This one's bitey, that's all.” Trip grinned, bopping the child on the nose. “But we're done with that, right?”

“Right!” The child grinned.

“Because?” Trip prompted, faking a serious face. Steve watched with amusement.

“Because if I bite you again, you're biting me back!” The child laughed. He clearly wasn't intimidated by Trip. Steve grinned and rocked the baby in his arms as the noise startled it awake.

“What's your name anyway?” Steve asked, adjusting the baby to his shoulder. It had been such a long time since he held a baby, but it felt like riding a bike. The baby still fussed, but seemed to settle with the light patting.

“1-0-2-7.” The boy chanted, whipping his wrist up to show Steve the number tattooed on the inside of his left wrist. There was a small ornate X tattooed next to his number.

“54985870,” Steve replied, holding out his hand. The boy shook it, looking Steve over more seriously.

“Are you from an old group? Cause you're old and your number is too long.”

“You could say that,” Steve nodded, glancing up at Trip. Trip grinned and nodded.

“He's _very_ old.”

“Your group must have tested better.” 1027 replied.

“Why do you say that?”

“You're big and strong. Strong enough to take out the guards.” The child was silent, debating. “Did you have side effects? They must have worked yours out, cause you seem way too nice. They trusted you with a baby.”

“What kind of side effects?”

“I saw Group Tau. You guys knocked them out. They didn't look hurt though. You guys did a good job.”

“Thanks?” Steve replied, uncertainly. What side effects? What were they putting in these children?

“I'm hungry!” The child smiled, studiously avoiding Trip's eye. It occurred to Steve that the boy hadn't stopped moving.

“You just ate,” Trip sighed.

“I'm hungry, too. Let's go find some snacks.” Steve grinned, elbowing Trip lightly.

“Oh, yeah. Encourage him. I'm the one that's going to have to wrangle him later.” Trip muttered, though he was smiling.

“This one might be hungry too,” Steve shrugged, still patting the fussy baby.

“I'll make you a bottle,” Simmons supplied helpfully, wandering past the three.

“Thanks,” Steve nodded.

“Not with your lab equipment,” Fitz started, trailing after her. “I know what you do with that stuff.”

“Fitz, it was one cat. Years ago. Can't you drop it?” Simmons sighed.

“No, I can't!” Fitz replied instantly. “Because its liver-”

“-was next to my/your lunch!” The two said in unison.

“Old argument?” Trip asked, grinning. Steve just shook his head.

“Ward's a saint,” Steve muttered.

“Yeah, I am.” Ward agreed, shaking his head at their interaction.

“Are they like that all the time?” Trip asked. The boy took Ward and Trip's hands and swung between them as they walked to the kitchen.

“Worse. When they're excited about something...” Ward shook his head, unable or unwilling to elaborate. “God, if science is involved? It's like they're speaking a whole other language and then they look at you like _you're_ stupid because you have no idea what they're talking about.”

“I'll give you Tony's number, they can call him.” Steve supplied helpfully.

“Really?” Ward asked.

“Really. He's my resident pain in the butt. They can...” Steve trailed off as they entered the kitchen. Someone had been cooking, or thought ahead and brought food. “Oh, God.”

“Here you go, Captain.” Simmons smiled, offering him the bottle and a towel. “Fair warning, he puked all over Coulson. Feed him slowly.”

“Great. Thanks.” Steve replied dryly.

“You're welcome.” Simmons chirped happily.

“I'll grab you a plate if you grab me a spot.” Trip nodded, pointing to some free space on the bench by the kitchen table.

“Deal.” Steve agreed.

When Trip came with food, Steve got up to let them in first. He wanted to be on the end in case the baby did puke. Trip slid a plate in front of Steve and he about moaned his appreciation. He settled the baby in the nook of his elbow and offered him the bottle. He latched on immediately, so Steve held the bottle with one hand and fed himself with the other. After a few ounces, he pulled the bottle from the baby's mouth and sat him up to burp him.

“Look at you. You're a pro.” Trip laughed, watching Steve's technique. Once he got a good burp from the baby, Steve let him have a few more ounces of formula.

“I don't know if this food is better than most, or if I'm just that hungry, but...this is to die for.” Steve groaned, shoving more into his mouth. Trip grinned.

“Either way, it hits the spot right.”

There was silence for a few minutes as the three specialists and the boy ate, the only noise from their bench coming from the baby slurping. Steve reluctantly put his food down and plucked the bottle from the baby's mouth.

“Hey, 54985870?” The boy asked, pushing a chip around his plate with his finger.

“Yeah, 1027?” Steve replied, patting the baby's back. He was impressed the boy remembered his military ID number; he had only said it once.

“Where's yours? I haven't found it yet.”

“My what?” Steve asked, frowning.

“Your spine.” He replied, like it was obvious. He pulled his shirt up and showed Steve his own miniature port, like the one they had used to take the adult guards down. His was attached to his spine, low on his back.

Oh, that's what they were doing with the kids. Raising super soldiers.

Steve barely swallowed back his revulsion.

“Oh.” Steve replied, letting the baby have the bottle again. “Um, I didn't need one of those to make me like this.”

“Oh!” The boy gasped, sounding excited. “You're from _that_ group? I thought they got most of you.”

“What group?” Clint asked softly, standing in the doorway. Tasha was slightly behind him, pressed against his shoulder. Whatever she had seen must have been bad; Steve had never seen her this clingy.

“The one that worked,” The boy replied. “They didn't need a spine to keep it up. No lasting side effects either. Well, for the ones that lived.”

The adults in the room were staring at the boy, dumbfounded by what he was saying. He reveled in the attention. He grinned and glanced around the room, innocently stealing a cookie from Trip's plate.

“What else do you know about them?” Trip asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Don't know how much is true,” The boy shrugged. “Just heard what was passed down through the groups. I'm Group Chi.”

“What group were they?” Clint pressed when the boy got distracted with his cookie.

“Group Delta. They're _legends_.” The boy grinned. “They're always comparing us to Group Delta. They want us to be like them. Well, to be like 47 for sure. But I think technically he was part of another group first. They mentioned him a lot. He didn't have to be passed down; the scientists still talk about him when they get frustrated. He's _awesome_.”

“Why didn't they just do the same thing again?” Trip asked.

“Couldn't. Group Delta trashed the research. Trashed the serum. Trashed the facility. Then, they got out.” 1027 said the last part reverentially. He grinned. “God, they were _pissed_. They're still trying to round them all back up. That's what I've been told, at least.”

“What's going on?” Tony asked, walking blearily into the kitchen.

“I'm going to go watch the screen,” The boy smiled, slipping under the table and out the door. The adults let him go, still trying to process his news.

“I'm going back to bed,” Tasha muttered quietly. Clint turned and left with her. He discretely grabbed Tony's arm and dragged him from the room. The baby had finished the bottle while Steve was distracted, so he put the bottle down and hurried to burp the baby. After a good burp, Steve handed the baby off to Ward who seemed flustered.

“I'm going to go check on her.” Steve muttered quietly to Trip.

 

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 (A/N: Here's the more graphic part)

 

“Good, there you are.” Tony announced, locking Coulson's office door behind Steve.

“Had to get rid of the baby.” Steve replied. “What are we doing?”

“We need to see what's on the hard drive,” Clint replied, kicking a chair out for Steve. Tasha was sitting on Clint's knee, putting up shields within Coulson's computer so they could use it privately. When she was done, she passed the keyboard to Tony and he added a few more layers of protection.

“I'm scared of what we're going to find,” Tony said softly, glancing sideways at Tasha. Steve nodded his agreement; Tasha looked shaken. She plugged the drive in with fingers that shook. Clint brushed her hand gently away from the mouse, taking control himself. “Skip those papers for now. We're going to need Bruce to look at the chemicals before he can explain it to us anyway.”

Clint clicked past the folders with the Serum. He opened a file labeled Group Alpha. He skipped past the research protocols; they didn't have time to be thorough, there were far too many files for that. Right now, they just needed to understand what was going on in that compound. They needed to see what they had saved those kids from. He found pictures and blew them up so they took the whole screen.

“Oh God.” Clint muttered. There were fifteen teens in Group Alpha, looking about 18 years old. There was a group picture of them looking scared and abused, probably from when they were first brought in. Clint clicked through the pictures quickly, too repulsed to stay on one picture for long. It didn't matter – they had a good idea what those kids went through. Whatever they were injected with was painful; there was picture after picture of the teens in agony. Then the side effects took over. Fingers and toes fell off, the muscles on their limbs withered, skin bubbled and fell off in sections, and muscles weakened enough to not hold the eyeballs in their socket. The file indicated Group Alpha was Erased, five days after injection.

Clint went back and chose Group Beta's file. Their initial group photo showed a group of twenty preteens. They were getting younger. The pictures were eerily similar to Group Alpha's, though the side effects seemed marginally less. Fingers shriveled (but stayed attached), skin turned bright red and bubbled (but didn't fall off), and their entire face just seemed to sink in on itself. One picture caught a red flare beneath the skin, making it look like their blood was on fire. Judging by the silent screams captured on film, it may have been kinder if it was fire. Group Beta was Erased, twenty days after injection.

Group Gamma was even younger than the last. It was the largest too, with thirty children shoved into their group photo. Most of the children looked about six or seven, though there were a few that looked younger. Centipede was obviously satisfied with the declining side effects, though they had yet to neutralize them. These children suffered, that much was clear, but far less than the previous two groups. Their muscles handled the serum better, having only marginal retraction. They lost their hair and their eyes sunk in, making them look rather like chemo patients. The bubbling was still present in their skin, though less severe and was limited to the torso. The skin only took on a pink hue rather than bright red. Group Gamma lasted five years. Clint declined to click through all five years of their suffering. Obviously it hadn't ended well.

“Do we need a break?” Clint asked softly.

“I may need to vomit,” Tony groaned, not afraid to vocalize his weakness. Steve nodded his head faintly. Clint glanced over and saw Tasha was trying to hold back tears.

“That's why Skye didn't want me in that room.” Tasha said, working to make her voice loud enough that all three could hear her. “I rewound the security feed. It's a giant...it's a giant furnace? I guess, you would call it. Two hours before we arrived on site, two white coats escorted a group into the room. They were children. Fucked up, mutilated, suffering...but children. And they burned them. Burned them alive.”

Tasha buried her face in Clint's neck, only letting him know her weakness as hot tears fell on his skin. She had seen some shit in her day, had done some terrible things...but these children _suffered_. Clint just held her tightly, unsure what to say. He felt numb. Like he was just watching a horrible movie. It didn't sink in, not yet, that these were real children. How did nobody miss that many children? The child at the table was number 1027 – the one thousand twenty seventh child to be experimented on. He wasn't even the last number in his group. There were more children.

“I don't want to see that,” Steve said firmly, scrubbing his eyes like he could make the whole thing disappear. He had been at war, been in a war zone. He knew the ugly side to death; the slow, painful death of a gut wound that no one could treat – not that it mattered, because a medic couldn't be found. He had seen the horrors of Hydra experimentation, seen nasty prisoner of war camps...but these were children. Innocents plucked from the streets, if the latest group was any indication of how they gathered their subjects.

Tony had his head between his knees, fighting a panic attack. Skye had refused to answer when he asked if they came from the compound. He needed to know. He needed to know if they suffered through that. Steve noticed his panic attack first, twisting Tony's chair towards his. “Tony, breathe. Listen to my breathing and copy it. In, out. In, out.”

“She may be from there,” Tony gasped, his whole torso shuttering as he fought to copy Steve's breathing pattern.

“If they came from there, we'll find them on here.” Clint murmured, tapping the drive.

“But what if we _do_ find them on there?” Tony asked. “I can't see pictures of Skye going through that. God, and Jack – he's not as strong as her. She's strong now...but when she was _that_ little? What if we find those pictures?”

No one had a good answer. When the four had gotten their heads around the situation, Steve glanced at Clint. “Group Delta. The legends. Then no more, I can't do this all in one sitting.”

Clint nodded and went back to open their file. He clicked, then double clicked. He huffed in frustration and triple clicked, just for good measure. Tasha reached over and tried to help him. When the mouse didn't work, she typed something quickly into the keyboard. Then the file vanished from the screen.

“What the actual fuck?” Clint muttered.

**No.**

Steve caught on first. He got up and pulled the camera from the bookshelf, putting it at the back of the desk so the four could fit in the frame.

“Skye?” Steve asked softly, looking into the camera. “Let us see Group Delta.”

**Nope.**

“Kid, please. There's a boy on board that mentioned Group Delta. We need to see if what he said is true,” Clint offered.

**Nuh-uh.**

“Skye, we know it turns out better than Alpha through Gamma. We handled those. We can handle this.” Tasha added, trying to make it seem like she hadn't been crying.

**Leave Group Delta alone.**

“Were you guys in Group Delta?” Tony asked softly. He hoped she would answer this time.

She failed him again, this time putting up random pictures she had pulled off the Bus' security feed instead of answering his question.

 

Fitz, with his hand over Simmons' mouth as the Hulk lumbered past them, their eyes wide with fear.

 

Coulson, laying the baby on Steve's chest, his tongue stuck out as he tried to complete his task without waking the super soldier.

 

Steve, Tasha, and Clint, cuddled together on the couch.

 

Steve, bouncing the baby with a soft smile on his face.

 

Tony, shedding his suit as he walked.

 

The Hulk, asleep on the floor with children clambering over his back.

 

Steve, feeding the baby with one hand.

 

Clint and Tasha, holding each other in the kitchen doorway.

 

Trip, watching a movie with the kids.

 

Ward, getting spectacularly vomited on by the baby, his mouth a perfect O of disgust.

 

Fitzsimmons giggling at his expression.

 

 

Tony sighed and looked at the camera. “Your non-answers are speaking pretty loud here.”

**How old do you think I am, Dad?**

“What the fuck does that mean?” Clint asked.

“Let me in my office!” Coulson yelled, banging on his door. Skye slipped from the system, leaving the Avengers to wonder about her message. Tasha quickly closed out of the drive and removed it from the computer. Tony opened the door, wondering what had the Agent in such a tizzy. “Someone just hacked my plane.”

 


	5. His Dad Side is Showing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bus gets hacked.

 

 

“What? What'd they do?” Tony asked, pushing past Coulson to head to the command center.

“Why don't I show you?” Fitz offered, looking angry and flustered. Simmons was directly behind him, offering him silent support.

“Please, do.”

Fitz rewound the security footage a few minutes, showing the group of children watching a movie. On two slightly smaller screens, Group Tau, the group they had to ice, and the rest of the children they had rescued were visible. There was a brief moment of static, then Skye's voice rang through the plane. She spoke to the children in the same language mash-up that she used with her brother. The children looked surprised, then excited. They looked at each other and grinned. Even Group Tau and the Guards were grinning. She said something else, then there was another second of static.

“What just happened?” Coulson asked, radiating fury.

“It's okay,” Steve replied instantly, calming the man. “She's not a threat.”

“Jarvis, translate?” Tony asked his AI. “Security protocol 1.”

The Avengers adjusted their coms, waiting for Jarvis' translation.

“Miss Skye: Give them anything they need to take them down.” Jarvis announced through their coms.

“And the rest?”

“I cannot translate that section, Sir.”

“You can't or you _can't_?” Tony asked rubbing his temple. The girl was giving him a headache.

“My protocols have been overwritten.” Jarvis replied.

“She would,” Steve sighed quietly.

“Well? What'd she say?” Coulson asked, bouncing. Agent May walked up behind him, silently threatening anything that threatened her home. She did not take kindly to having her plane hacked.

“She just told the children to help us find the people in charge of the compound.”

“You know who did this?” Coulson asked, anger still pulsing from him. He had his scary smile on; the one that found its way to his face when he was really ticked.

“Yes, sir. She's not a threat.” Tony replied.

“Your source?” Coulson asked, frowning. Steve nodded. “I got the impression it was a man.”

“What gave you that impression?” Tony asked stroking his facial hair.

“He introduced himself to me as Captain Roger's boyfriend,” Coulson replied, shooting a sideways look at his idol. Clint bust out laughing, making no attempt to hide his amusement. Tasha smirked beside him, amused in her own way.

“When did you talk to him?” Tony pressed, frowning. He waved Fitz away from the screen, pulling up the security feeds.

“While you guys were sleeping in my office.” Coulson shrugged.

“He's not my boyfriend,” Steve muttered finally, his ears still burning with embarrassment.

“Sure thing Cap.” Coulson deferred, easily side-lining his own curiosity for Steve's comfort.

“You sure know how to find guys that like to watch you sleep,” Tony told Steve, fiddling with the time stamp until he found the footage from Coulson's nap on the couch. It was obvious Jack and Skye were monitoring the plane – the screen shots of the security feed proved that much. Steve and Coulson both went red at that. He watched the security tape Coulson receive a text to his phone. “He texted you? Let me see.”

Tony held out his hand without looking from the screen. He expected people to do what he asked of them. Coulson sighed and dug in his pocket for his phone.

“You collecting Cap's phone too?” Coulson sulked.

“You talked to him?” Tony asked, spinning quickly to get in Steve's face. “Why didn't this come up earlier?”

“Because right after you woke up, 1027 dropped a bomb on us.” Steve replied stiffly. Tony was in his space, and it was making him angry. “Take a step back, Stark.”

“What'd he say?” Tony replied, taking only half a step back. He wasn't backing down damn it, but he knew he was only _Stark_ when Steve was at the end of his rope with him. He could admit it – he wasn't so brave when he knew his suit was all the way down in Coulson's office. Steve could do some serious damage to his pretty face before his suit could save his ass.

“He's bored out of his mind. He wanted conversation.”

“That's what she's for.” Tony replied, his tone losing all heat at her mention.

“I asked him for help,” Steve replied softly, his anger evaporating. “Asked him to help himself. He's too social to live reclusive. Sounds like she's made security pretty tight.”

“I want your phone.” Tony said flatly, holding out his hand. Steve sighed and dug it out of his pocket. “Is this why you got the camera when she deleted that file?”

“Yeah, some of his responses were to questions I had asked aloud. He was watching.”

“I'm so confused.” Coulson sighed. “You have two sources?”

“I don't think I want to talk about this anymore,” Tony told Coulson. Steve shook his head behind Tony, agreeing with his statement.

“You trust this source?” Coulson asked with an eyebrow raise.

“Yes.” Steve and Tony replied immediately. Tasha and Clint nodded their agreement in the background.

“You're willing to defy debriefing protocol to protect this source?” Coulson asked, looking at Steve. Tony wasn't part of Shield, but Coulson knew he wouldn't have played by their rules anyway. Steve, however, was all about following the rules.

“It doesn't endanger the mission. It's a non-issue.” Steve replied, stiffening his shoulders at the implied threat.

**Stop threatening my boys, AC.**

“Shit, sir.” Fitz garbled, pointing to the screen. Coulson raised his eyebrow at the screen, then Fitz.

“AC?” Coulson asked, glancing at the Avengers. They were suddenly all grinning.

**Agent Coulson = A.C. = AC**

“Her boys,” Tasha whispered to Clint with a grin.

“Can you track it?” Coulson sighed, urging his technology man forward. He loved the scientist, but sometimes he needed help getting started.

**Don't waste your time.**

“I'm on it, sir.” Fitz replied, his tone stubborn. Tony and Steve exchanged a smirk. They wouldn't find her, not if she didn't want to be found.

**Aw, that's one for the fridge. I'll send you a copy, girlfriend.**

“Thanks,” Tasha laughed. Coulson looked surprised at Tasha's laughter, but hid it to talk to the group.

“I don't appreciate being threatened on by own Bus.” Coulson told the Avengers seriously, not knowing where to talk. Obviously she was watching, but he couldn't talk to thin air.

**It's not a threat.**

“It's a promise.” Clint interrupted, smirking with satisfaction.

**Stealing my lines, Archer Man. So, AC. I've already added some pertinent information to your file...are you going to leave my boys alone now?**

Fitz pulled up Coulson's new file. Steve snorted and looked at his shoes, letting Tony muffle his laughter in Steve's shoulder. Clint was unabashedly chortling, leaning on Tasha. Coulson's picture was edited to have Hello Kitty apparel, the background of the file turned pink. Red ink marked her changes to his file. She was surprisingly restrained; there were only a few edited portions. She mentioned Coulson's idolization of Steve, but created a “stalker” problem that resulted in him being removed from any cases even slightly pertaining to the man. Of course, she had to add the photo of Coulson putting the baby on Steve's sleeping body. Under effective disciplinary action, she added Tasha and Clint's names, stating several training bouts with them should knock some sense into him. Her final bit mentioned Coulson's “man love” with Tony Stark, stating, “He does the Humping Man with Iron Man.” Steve hid his smile beneath his hand at Tony's shocked expression.

 **Sorry Dad,** flashed across the screen for half a second while Coulson's back was turned. Steve laughed out loud at his expression.

**Somebody better stop Agent Talks Back from entering your interrogation room. They won't be stable to be around until you can deprogram them.**

“Fitz, please.” Coulson sighed, silently asking him to do as she bid. The Avengers all had some sort of horror written on their face. Deprogramming.

“Hello Kitty, really?” Simmons frowned, inspecting the file still on the screen.

**Would this make your British-ness happy?**

The file flashed and the pink was gone. Instead it was deep blue. Now, Coulson was wearing a fez, a tweed jacket, and a bow tie. Simmons took a good look at the file and nodded.

“Much better. I'm just going to print this off...” Simmons grinned, tapping away on the command center controls.

**I could plaster it all over the Bus...for good measure? _Doctor_ Coulson, how do you feel about that?**

“Oh, I like her.” Simmons grinned at Steve. He smiled his agreement back. Skye was very easy to like.

“That's enough.” Coulson interjected, frowning. “I call a truce. I'll stop harassing your _boys_ , if you stop harassing me.”

**I didn't say stop harassing them. I said stop threatening them.**

A video clip appeared on the screen, making everyone grin.

“ _Come on, you know Merida and Spidey are going to do their whole compact sleeping thing, so they're fine with the couch. Come join me.” Tony laughed, standing in the doorway of Coulson's bedroom._

“ _No! Last time you spooned me and played with my butt,” Steve retorted, looking absolutely beat. Tasha and Clint exchanged a tired look._

**A little harassment is a good thing.**

“That's enough, sweetheart.” Tony muttered.

“His fatherly side is showing,” May said dryly. When Tony shot her a look, she smirked. She wasn't intimidated by him – especially when he wasn't in his suit. Coulson shot a curious look at Steve who just shrugged. He couldn't deny it.

“His long lost kid inherited his personality,” Coulson muttered, glaring at his file. Tony grinned proudly.

“I'm going back to the cockpit,” May informed Coulson. “We should be on the ground in thirty.”

**What are you going to do with the kids?**

“Not sure,” Coulson replied honestly. “We went in for five kids. We weren't prepared to bring back so many. We'll get them somewhere safe. We had a special child in the sixties. We put her in the system, moved her around to keep her safe. These kids are special too...besides, we need to keep them hidden until we've caught the people in charge of that compound.”

**You didn't keep her safe. What makes you think that would work any better for these kids?**

“You have a better suggestion?” Coulson asked, frowning. Tony shrugged one shoulder at the look Coulson gave him. The Avengers knew Skye had hacked Shield before. Of course she had looked for anything that would affect the children.

**Anything else. Make a group home, keep them together. The children are self-sufficient, they can look after themselves.**

“You mentioned deprogramming, so we'll get some behaviorists on that.”

**Group Tau will be an issue. They're not stable right now.**

“We'll be careful with them,” Tony promised. He remembered Jack's plea not to hurt them.

“We could just ice them again,” Simmons suggested. “Seemed to work the first time.”

**Don't overuse it. They'll become resistant.**

“Jesus,” Steve muttered. He looked around to find a camera, then spoke to it. “Do you know how to break the programming?”

**You've got the best and brightest. I'm sure you'll figure it out.**

“That means yes,” Clint frowned.

“But they're still not coming back.” Tasha nodded in agreement.

 **I've got something that'll make moving them easier**.

“You got some weight with these children?” Clint asked, scratching his face. “They seemed awfully excited to hear from you.”

After a minute of silence, they understood that Skye wasn't going to answer. Steve hung his head. He was still tired from fighting so many Super Guards, but he was also tired of Skye's evasions. He couldn't help her if he didn't know what the problem was. He hated feeling useless. Fitz came rushing into the room.

“Someone is speaking to the kids in the interrogation room,” He gasped, rushing up to his boss.

“Show me,” Coulson ordered. Tony pulled up the feed because he was already at the table. There was only static from the room; the feed was cut. Clint's phone buzzed in his pocket. After a few minutes, the feed came back up and Group Tau could be seen standing in two lines. They were facing the door, standing in a stiff position.

“She's got serious weight.” Clint muttered. “Why would they listen to her?”

The unstable group had converted into good little soldiers with only a brief conversation with Skye. Clint remembered about his phone, taking it out with a frown. Tasha looked over his shoulder.

**They'll need to get off the plane last. Make sure whoever is around them has a lab coat on; they've been programmed not to attack the scientists.**

“Fuck.” Clint spit. He showed Steve his phone, then pulled Tasha into his side. This mission was taking a lot out of him. He was sure he wasn't going to be able to sleep for a week. Steve nodded and relayed the message on to Coulson.

“We'll make sure they're safe,” Coulson nodded. “I'm going to go pass this message on. I don't want anyone hurting the kids.”

“If you're worried about hurting the kids in the interrogation room, you shouldn't.” Ward told Coulson, drying his head with a towel. He looked like he just got out of the shower. Steve remembered the picture of Ward getting puked on and glanced at Clint. He was smiling vindictively. Fitzsimmons were giggling again, probably remembering the same thing.

“Why not?” Coulson asked.

“May and I missed one when we iced the room. She could hold her own.” Ward shrugged.

“That means a little girl kicked his arse.” Fitz supplied helpfully.

“Nah, May had him covered. She iced her before Ward could get his arse kicked.” Simmons contradicted. Fitz huffed and grumbled something about the Night Night gun. She grinned at Tasha. “Watch him deny it.”

“I didn't want to hurt the girl,” Ward was saying. He caught Simmons' sideline with Tasha and clamped his mouth shut. The scientists and assassins just grinned at him. He frowned and turned to leave the room.

“Where's the baby?” Steve asked.

“Shoved him off on one of the specialists,” Ward shrugged.

“We done here?” Tony asked, glancing around. “Coulson, your plane is safe. Group Tau's threat level has been...well, reduced at best. But for now that's the best we could ask for. We need to get our equipment together so we can head back to the Tower.”

“I want the hard drive.” Coulson interrupted, stepping in their way so they couldn't stream past him. “This was a Shield mission, after all.”

“No, the stealth mission was a Shield mission. This one was all Avengers.” Steve replied easily.

“Yeah, thanks for the assist.” Tony couldn't help but add. Clint smirked and dropped his head so Coulson couldn't see.

“We can't begin to deprogram the kids without knowing what happened to them.” Coulson argued logically.

“That's a good point,” Tasha agreed.

“I'll send you a copy.” Tony shrugged.

“You mean you'll send me whatever you think I need to know, and nothing more.” Coulson said flatly. Tony shrugged. “Your kid...is she on there? You want to wipe her first?”

“I'll send you a copy,” Tony said coldly, pushing past Coulson.

“We're going to need to wake Bruce up,” Steve remarked to the Avengers as they filed past Coulson without looking at him. Coulson grimaced. He had crossed a line, apparently. He wondered who the girl was that she had this level of devotion from the Avengers. Hell, just Tony Stark's concern was enough to throw Coulson for a loop. The man was notorious for not caring about anybody but himself, Pepper excluded.

“When we land, I'll bring the car around. You can dump him in the back,” Tasha replied. They knew how much being the Hulk took out of Bruce. He would be out of it until he got enough sleep, then he would eat enough to feed a small village. Steve and Thor would help, of course. It was a good thing Tony was loaded, because Tasha wasn't sure they could afford the grocery bill otherwise.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

When the plane landed, 1027 ran through the plane yelling in the mash-up language. One of the kids yelled back at him, but 1027 just grinned. Pretty soon all of the children were assembled in the loading bay.

“What's going on, kid?” Trip asked from the railing above them.

“Making sure we didn't lose anyone,” 1027 shrugged. “Well, besides the ones the medics took right away.”

“Lose anyone?” Steve asked, bouncing the baby. The specialist Ward had given the baby to was more than happy to hand the screaming child off to Steve. Apparently the baby had puked on everyone that held him, with the exception of Steve. Steve bounced the infant for a few minutes, rubbing circles on his back to calm him down. Trip shook his head as the infant's wailing gradually stopped.

“You're like a baby whisperer,” Trip laughed. “How'd you get so good with kids?”

“I wasn't good for much else, before the war.” Steve shrugged. Trip nodded his understanding. He knew all about pre-serum Steve.

1027 shouted to the kids. The majority of them separated from the group and formed two rows, standing much like Group Tau was still standing – in parade rest position. 1027 shouted again and the remaining kids formed their own rows. 1027 slipped into the first group.

“Group Chi,” 1027 shouted, and the rest of his group shouted it back. They ran through their numbers, one by one. There were numbers missing, but they must have had everyone they expected because the next group started up as soon as they were finished.

“Group Upsilon,” Someone shouted in the other group, and that group repeated it after him. They ran through their numbers as well. Steve noticed there were more gaps in their sequence, but they gave no indication anyone was missing. Their group was much smaller than Group Chi, but they also looked older. They had had more time to lose members.

The biggest boy in Group Upsilon said something in the mash-up language and the children all took a knee.

“Group Phi,” They murmured softly. Then the children were quiet, waiting for orders.

“Think that was the group that went to the...room?” Tasha asked softly. Steve shrugged.

“Could be. Seems like a recent loss.”

“Phi does come between Upsilon and Chi in the Greek alphabet,” Trip added softly, not wanting to break the hush that had fallen over the loading bay.

“Poor kids.” Tasha murmured. “I'm glad we got the new ones out before anything could happen to them.”

“Sir Pukes-a-lot sure appreciates it,” Trip nodded, grinning at the baby. The other specialists shuffled around the kids, waiting for the ramp to lower so they could get off the plane. Coulson went down to the children to lead them off the plane. Coulson glanced up at the Avengers and Trip, leaning on the railing.

“It's been an honor, Cap.” Coulson smiled. One of the children said something in the mash-up and the four rows turned neatly and saluted the Avengers. Steve straightened and saluted back. The children grinned and turned back to Coulson. He lead them off the plane and to a large bus that was waiting.

“Wait, what about the baby?” Steve asked, realizing he still had him in his arms.

“I'm taking the new ones back,” Trip grinned, sensing Steve's panic. “Did you think Coulson would make you keep him?”

“I was more worried Coulson would keep him.” Clint muttered.

 

 


	6. Baby on the Doorstep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve hears from someone he doesn't expect and the Team discusses the possibility of Skye coming from Delta.

 

 

When they got back to the Tower, Steve brought Bruce to his floor and helped him into bed.

“We got the kids, right?” Bruce murmured, shuffling to the middle of his bed.

“Yeah. We got them, and then some.” Steve replied.

“Good.” Bruce sighed. Steve let himself out of Bruce's room and headed to his own floor. He stripped off his Captain America uniform (he had put the top back on before leaving the plane), and headed for the shower. He turned the water as hot as he could stand it, then just stood in the water stream. He let the water wash his tension away, then finally started washing himself. He had an email waiting when he got out of the shower.

“Jarvis?” Steve asked, looking at the notification. It was from Skye.

“Yes, Mr. Rogers?”

“Is this the same address that she gave Tony?”

“Yes, Mr. Rogers.”

“So, it's really her?” Steve asked, getting excited despite his exhaustion.

“It appears so.” Jarvis agreed. Steve grinned and opened the email.

 

 

**Hey Face Plant,**

**Thanks for the help today. Agent Triplett isn't having as much luck with the baby as you did. He got spectacularly vomited on as soon as you left the plane. Don't be surprised if there's a baby in a basket on Stark Tower's doorstep in the morning. Sleep well tonight – you may need the energy tomorrow.**

**Ninja Feet**

 

 

He relaxed a little more. If he was worried about the email being from Skye, her use of the nicknames was enough to confirm her identity. Steve laughed out loud at the picture Skye had attached with the email. Trip didn't look as disgusted as Ward had; it was like he knew it was coming. His expression was resigned, with just a hint of exhaustion. The baby was in the picture as well. His face was bright red and it looked like he was screaming. Steve pulled up Agent Triplett's Shield file and found his cell number.

“Hey Trip,” Steve grinned into the phone.

“Captain America is calling me?” Trip gasped with fake awe. The baby was still screaming in the background.

“I just got this awesome picture of you getting puked on. Can I offer you some advice?”

“I will take anything you can give me,” Trip replied seriously. He sounded bone tired, despite his good humor.

“Have you slept at all yet?” Steve asked.

“No, still have the five munchkins with me. Technically, Fitzsimmons are here too, but they're asleep with a kid each. The other two are watching a movie...I think. So advice? I can only take so much screaming.”

“Are you still wearing mission gear? Go change into something soft. No buttons.”

“That makes sense,” Trip agreed, heading for his temporary bunk. He used a pillow to block the baby against the wall of his bunk, keeping it from rolling, then changed into the only shirt he brought. It wasn't that soft, but it was softer than his mission gear and it was button free. “Okay, next?”

“You saw how I was holding him earlier,” Steve grinned. “You gotta bounce and rub his back. Try firm, slow circles. If that doesn't work, try patting his back. You may want a towel over your shoulder if you're going to try patting.”

“Alright, I'm going to give this a try. You okay with me saving you in my phone, in case this doesn't work?” Trip asked.

“Call me anytime.” Steve laughed.

“Alright. Well, good night. Thanks for the advice.”

“You're welcome.”

Steve hung up the phone with a smile. Then he pulled his laptop closer and decided what to email back. If she was initiating contact, he surely wasn't going to let this opportunity pass.

 

 

**Ninja Feet,**

**It's good to hear from you. I offered Trip some baby advice, so hopefully there won't be one on the doorstep in the morning. Tony may have a heart attack. On second thought, maybe I'll put a (fake) baby on the doorstep, just to mess with him.**

**How are you?**

**Face Plant**

 

 

Steve hit send before he could add anything else. He wanted to tell her he missed her. He wanted to ask her to come back. He wanted to see her again. He wanted to kiss her again. Steve blushed at the thought. But he wasn't stupid. He knew that wasn't going to happen, not while she felt threatened.

He still didn't understand why she felt so threatened, or who they were running from - was it really Centipede? - ...but he wished she trusted him enough to keep her safe. Tony seemed convinced she came from the compound, specifically Group Delta, and Skye was doing absolutely nothing to deny those claims. The only thing she ever said in response to those questions was the cryptic message about her age. Steve's email pinged with a new message.

 

 

**Face Plant,**

**Jack has attached something for you. Don't worry, I already put it as your desktop background. He's quite proud of it. If you really want to annoy Tony, I can send you a sound bite to put on your phone. Every time you get a message or phone call, the sound will go off. I guarantee he'll flip.**

**Ninja Feet**

 

 

Steve minimized the window so he could see his desktop. Jack had indeed edited the photo, like he had promised on the plane. Now, instead of Tasha and Clint curled up next to him on the couch, Jack was in their place. Steve was looking at him with concern and holding the baby on his chest. He sighed. Jack must have taken the image from when Tasha was having her nightmare. He rubbed his neck and groaned. He didn't know how to take it down. He had just mastered the basics; changing his desktop background had never been important to him.

 

 

**Ninja Feet,**

**Your brother exhausts me. (Don't you dare tell him that). Now I need to figure out how to change my desktop background. That lesson didn't come up during my computer course. I don't know what a sound bite is, but you can send it to me anyway. I would love to see Tony flip.**

**Since I now have a photo of Jack, can I have one of you?**

**Face Plant**

 

 

 

**Face Plant,**

**I'm sending the file to your phone. I'll walk you through saving it and setting it as your ring tone. Do you want it for everyone, or just for me?**

**Ninja Feet**

 

 

 

**Ninja Feet,**

**Only you – if that means I get to hear it a few times a day.**

**Face Plant**

 

 

 

**Face Plant,**

**You may be pushing your luck.**

**Ninja Feet**

 

 

Steve made a face at the computer screen. He knew he was pushing his luck, but he couldn't help it. He missed her.

Steve's phone pinged and the email program alerted him to a new message at the same time. There was a media file on his phone and instructions on saving it as a ring tone in the email. Skye's instructions were clear and precise, so Steve had no problems. Contrary to popular belief, he _could_ pick up on the new technology. He just wasn't good at interpreting Tony's genius level lessons. He couldn't help the grin that blossomed on his face when he realized her instructions had him save the ring tone for her messages and emails only.

 

 

**Face Plant,**

**I'm not making promises about several times a day...or even every day. Sorry.**

**Ninja Feet**

 

 

 

**Ninja Feet,**

**Your technology lessons are way easier than Tony's technology lessons. Thanks for the ring tone.**

**Face Plant**

**P.S. What is the sound?**

 

 

 

**Face Plant,**

**You're very welcome. If what you say is true, I may have to teach you up a bit. The ring tone is the old internet modem connection sound. Kids growing up in the nineties had to suffer through five minute connection times to access the internet. No, open your laptop and you're connected, like there is now. That sound will pierce him straight to the heart. Here's a video if it helps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8XKhCfsTts**

**Ninja Feet**

**P.S. Get some sleep, you must be beat. Let me know when you're around Tony tomorrow. I promised not to hack the Tower any more.**

 

 

 

**Ninja Feet,**

**You found a loop hole. Jarvis couldn't translate for us.**

**Face Plant**

**P.S. Be safe on your run before bed.**

 

 

 

**Face Plant,**

**I will always leave loop holes for myself ;)**

**Don't let the bed bugs bite.**

**Ninja Feet**

 

 

Steve fell asleep that night with a smile on his face.

 

 0-0-0-0-0

 

He woke surprisingly refreshed. He hadn't expected to sleep well, not after what they had seen the night before. He changed into his running gear and slipped out of the Tower. He couldn't stop himself from watching for Skye as he ran, it was habit after this long. He hadn't found her in months, so today probably wouldn't be any different...but a guy could hope.

He would do everything in his power to bring these people down, so she could come out of hiding. So _they_ could come out of hiding. She must be as miserable as her brother if she broke her self-imposed silence to email with him. Maybe he could convince her to come hide at the Tower. He knew he could take care of her, he just had to convince her of the fact as well. Besides, at the Tower at least she would have other people to engage with. He couldn't imagine being stuck with just Jack for long.

Steve frowned and started running back to the Tower. They needed to go through the files on the drive. He needed something to do. He always managed to get himself into trouble when he was idle for too long.

Bruce was still sleeping, and would probably continue to sleep well into the afternoon, but Tasha and Clint were at the breakfast counter when Steve got back to the Tower.

“Good Morning,” Steve greeted, heading to the fridge to grab the orange juice.

“You look chipper,” Clint grunted. The coffee pot was already half empty.

“I crashed last night. Slept surprisingly well...considering,” Steve replied with a small shrug. He wasn't ready to tell them Skye had emailed him. She wasn't saying anything relevant to the group. It was personal. Private. He wanted to keep her to himself for just a little bit longer.

“I think I got a few hours in,” Tasha replied, looking refreshed enough. But Steve already knew how well she could hide her fatigue. “Every time I fell asleep, I saw those pictures again.”

“I want to see the rest of them today.” Steve said softly. He paused in the fridge where he was taking out items for an omelet. “I don't _want_ to see them. But I need to know what's on the drive.”

“I don't think anyone wants to see them,” Tony agreed, shuffling into the kitchen. “I thought we were going to take today off.”

“Coulson's going to be on your case about getting a copy,” Tasha replied. “We do need to see if there's anything we need to censor before Shield gets to it.”

“You think Skye's on there too?” Tony asked, accepting the coffee mug Steve handed him.

“I would guess she's...mid-twenties?” Tasha guessed, looking around for confirmation. Steve nodded his agreement. Clint shrugged and nodded. “Let's say she's 25, for argument's sake. That puts her birthday at 1990. So we need to look at the groups that started between 1990 and 1995, with some wiggle room either way? They seem to like starting with younger kids.”

“Sounds like a good place to start,” Steve agreed, giving up on the omelet and scrambling the mess he made in the frying pan. Clint snorted at his breakfast when he brought it over a few minutes later. “Shut up. It tastes the same no matter how it looks.”

“I don't know how you can even think about food.” Tasha groaned, twisting her face.

“Super-soldier metabolism,” Steve shrugged.

“Obviously, if Skye is on the drive, they broke out. Right? I mean, they didn't just let a group go.” Tony mused out loud, “That would explain why she's so paranoid. I can create an algorithm to search the drive and look for missing or escaped children. That way we don't have to look through each file, one by one.”

“That is a good plan.” Tasha nodded. “I'll help you.”

Tony and Tasha refilled their coffee cups and headed for Tony's lab. Clint stayed where he was, absently drinking from his coffee cup. Steve smiled at his exhaustion. Maybe Bruce would help him drug Clint so he could get a good nights rest.

“I'm going to go shower,” Steve told Clint, putting his dishes in the dishwasher. “I'll meet you in the lab?”

“Sure sure,” Clint nodded, getting up to refill his cup. If Steve knew Clint, and he did, Clint would be bouncing off the walls when all the caffeine hit him. Steve smiled fondly and headed for the elevator. He took a quick shower and put on clean clothes. He peeked at his computer and saw he had another email from Skye.

 

 

**Face Plant,**

**I hope you slept well and didn't trip up on your morning run. I realized you might not have your email set up on your phone. It would be silly to text you when you couldn't reply, and email is safer anyway.**

**Ninja Feet**

 

 

Skye outlined the instructions for accessing his email from his Stark phone, then ran through the steps for syncing it with his laptop so he was always up to date. She offered a few tips for using it on his phone as well. Steve was impressed at how easy it was to follow her steps. In less than ten minutes, Steve was sending Skye an email from his phone.

 

 

**Ninja Feet,**

**What are you still doing up? Go to sleep so we can give Tony some gray hairs later. Thank you for yet another technology lesson.**

**Steve**

 

 

 

**I guess it's Steve now,**

**My schedule has been a little off lately, I'll sleep when I sleep. I really, really like the idea of giving Tony some gray hairs. Especially since I get to do it with you. I knew there was a joker beneath the stern Captain America persona. How's your poker face?**

**S**

 

 

 

**Ninja,**

**My poker face is amazing. What do you have in mind?**

**Steve**

 

 

 

**Steve,**

**I'm thinking you play your new technological prowess down. Deny, deny, deny. If this works, we may need to plan some more pranks. I'm going to go crash for a bit, no run necessary. Email me when you're ready.**

**S**

 

 

 

**Sleep tight, doll.**

**Steve**

 

 

Steve headed for the lab, knowing he needed to accomplish something. Tasha and Tony were watching the algorithm run.

“Nothing,” Tony sighed. “Group Delta's information would have popped up, but Skye's taken that bit of information from us.”

"Assuming the kid knew what he was talking about," Clint grunted. "We're putting a lot on his word."

“We can expand the parameters,” Tasha sighed, dropping into a chair. “Maybe they mention Group Delta in the other files. That kid did say they were supposed to be like Group Delta. Maybe there are comparisons somewhere.”

“Alright, let's get this shit show over with,” Clint said dropping into his own chair.

“Can we make boards for each group?” Steve asked. “We can put the major information for each group on the board, so it's easier to compare?”

“Well, I refuse to go buy poster board to complete your project,” Tony grimaced, shaking his head, “But it's a good idea. We'll just do it digitally.”

“Can we start with Alpha again?” Clint asked, rolling a chair over to Tasha's. “I feel like I need to ease back into this.”

“Ease into it?” Tony asked, raising his eyebrow.

“The kid said Group Delta destroyed the serum, destroyed the research. They would have had to start over.” Clint replied, shrugging.

“Which means the groups after Group Delta might be worse?” Steve asked, frowning.

“I don't know,” Clint admitted. “But the thought kept me up all night.”

“Not all night,” Tasha murmured, smirking ever so slightly. Clint's smirk was less subtle. Steve suddenly felt very lonely. They had obviously comforted each other last night; not that he had expected any different. He didn't understand their relationship – if Clint was Fire, Tasha was Ice. Their skill sets made them excellent partners, but their personalities were opposite. He could say the same about Tony and Pepper's relationship too, though. Pepper was polite, controlled, mature and Tony was...none of those. Maybe that's what made a good relationship. Balance. Too much emotion with hidden emotion. Too much control with not enough. Each partner smoothing the rough edges of the other.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a heads up, the next chapter will be bad.


	7. The Dreaded Hard Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team looks into the groups on the hard drive - they don't like what they see.
> 
> **Warning: GRAPHIC. The team finds out what the side effects are of the serum**

Several hours later, Tony had 24 digital boards created for the 23 groups they had found documented on the drive. Group Delta's board was nearly blank. They knew that Group Delta was formed sometime between 1972, the year Group Gamma was formed, and 1985, the year Group Epsilon was formed. Skye questioning Tony about her age suddenly made sense; she would be in her forties if she were part of that group. Tony grumbled but gave up on the idea that Skye was from that group.

It was easy to dismiss the notion that Skye and Jack had come from Group Delta. It was less easy to dismiss the idea of them being part of the project though. They knew far too much, from an insider's perspective, to not have been involved. They couldn't figure out how they were involved though; a careful analysis of each group picture after Group Delta revealed nothing. Each group had boys and girls from a variety of races. Even after paying extra close attention to the Asian children, the Avengers knew Skye and Jack weren't in any of those photos. For now, they were forced to bench the mystery that surrounded the duo.

The next pressing mystery was the child that was experiment 47. 1027 had mentioned him in passing, stating he was the ideal. He had been from Group Delta, and something had gone right with him. Since they didn't have the file, they decided to take 1027's word for it and assume he was transplanted into Group Delta when they were created. Which meant he originally came from one of the first three groups. He had survived, even when the rest of the group was Erased. There was information about 47's test results, but those were scientific enough that Bruce would have to translate for them. Tony pulled images of the children from Group Gamma and placed them on the digital board he had created for Experiment 47. They had the information from all the groups except Delta, so they could reasonably assume he came from Gamma. There would have been notes about a child being transplanted into another group in one of the earlier files, if 47 came came from Alpha or Beta. His number also fell within the parameters for Group Gamma. There were a few that they could cross out; the file made it clear when they died. There were 30 children in Group Gamma – 15 girls and 15 boys. They could narrow their list down to 7 boys. Eventually, they conceded that they had to bench him too. Maybe the other files would give more information.

For now, they had to figure out how to stomach the images that they saw. Clint was right – the pictures were worse after Group Delta. Group Epsilon, the group formed after Group Delta, didn't even survive the injections. Based on Tony's interpretation of the research notes, they had simply combusted from the inside. After a few groups, they managed to tweak the new serum enough that the children survived the injections. But they shouldn't have. In every picture, their faces were twisted with pain. Even when unconscious, which is when Tony realized their faces were permanently distorted. After a few days, their faces looked like masks. Brittle and pale, the skin peeled off, layer by layer, until only the facial muscles were visible. Some groups had those effects on their entire body.

In some groups, the red skin and blistering were prominent. The blistering was so bad that the children weren't recognizable. Faces swelled until there were no features to be seen. The red skin turned black and fell off, like frostbitten flesh. Then the blisters broke and yellow goo oozed from their flesh. Thankfully, the scientists didn't tinker with these groups too much. Their suffering was short.

Steve wasn't sure when his thinking changed; how could he be grateful that they killed the children? They were innocent and young. It seemed like the scientists had decided three to five year olds were the perfect subjects. Every group started out that young. But he also couldn't imagine forcing the children to live through that suffering. He was more and more grateful that they had gotten those children out of the compound.

Two Groups, Kappa and Lambda, had burned. Literally. There was video of it happening. Group Kappa had burst into flames, turning each child into a fire ball. That had lasted only seconds, before they exploded like a bomb. Group Lambda hadn't gone quite as spectacularly; they combusted from the inside, slowly turning into piles of ash. It was a small mercy that they appeared to not feel much of it. The fire would have knocked out their nerve endings fairly quickly.

After that, the scientists were forced to re-think their strategy. Group Nu was the first group to receive a “spine” as 1027 had called it. The scientists couldn't get back to their original serum, so they were forced to adjust the formula they had. The problem was that it was too strong to be injected all at once and it wasn't practical to inject the children everyday. The group before Group Nu, Group Mu, had received the daily shots – until the scientists decided they wanted to see what would happen if they stopped. Group Mu went crazy; they had hallucinations, deliriums, and went, for lack of a better word, crazy. Group Mu had started eating each other before being Erased. Tony couldn't flick past those images fast enough.

The groups slowly started getting better. Not good – there were still side effects, but nothing as major as the initial side effects. Some of the side effects could be treated and cured as the child grew, like the red skin and blistering that they still couldn't figure out. Each child bore scars from the blistering - small circular scars that covered their bodies. Others could be treated with medications, like the seizures that randomly struck a few of the groups. They found creative solutions for other issues. Like programming for aggression and obedience issues. They experimented with the location of the spine, finding essentially the same results despite the location. Some were more strategically placed – unlike the super guards that had theirs on their shoulders.

The super guards that they had taken down in the compound they identified as Groups Pi and Rho. Their aggression issues were managed, but not controlled. They weren't released from their cells until all of the scientists had left for the evening. The programming that kept the scientists safe from the other groups didn't protect them from those groups. Group Tau, the group they iced at the compound, also had aggression issues – but the opposite of what you would expect. They weren't aggressive enough, so their programming made them _more_ aggressive. The Avengers promised to work on deprogramming those children as soon as possible.

The last few groups, Upsilon, Phi, and Chi suffered from the least side effects. Upsilon had issues with internal functions and required constant upkeep. Group Phi and Chi were opposites. Phi had serious issues with depression; more than half of the children had committed suicide. In a last ditch effort to deal with the debilitating depression, the scientists had concocted a medicine that would hypothetically cure it. Tasha had witnessed the group being Erased, so it hadn't worked, but the scientists hadn't updated the file before leaving for the evening so the Avengers weren't sure what went wrong. Group Chi, on the other hand, were almost manic. They were “up” all the time, which certainly explained 1027's energy level. Some members of the group had had success with medical intervention and had moderated their level of activity. For others, the medicine simply didn't work. For a few, the medicine caused reactions that lead to them being Erased. Despite their lack of side effects, the serum didn't work as well as it was supposed to. The groups were strong, but not as strong as the scientists wanted. They were agile, but not as agile as previous groups. They were smart, but not genius level smart like the scientists had come to expect. The scientists expressed displeasure at the results - they were just gifted children, not super soldier material.

They added a few things to Experiment 47's board as they went through the other files. He was the youngest of Group Gamma, which probably explained the young age at which they started the next groups. Tony crossed off a few more pictures of the children he knew to be older at the beginning of the experimentation. He was smart, incredibly so – but that wasn't highly unusual for the experiments. Many of the children were either higher functioning naturally or because of something in the serum. The scientists expressed the desire that other groups had the natural ability that 47 demonstrated in regards to training. Steve understood “training” to mean fighting. Group Gamma had survived long enough to begin physical training. They weren't just lab rats. He also had a high pain tolerance, which the scientists were desperate to duplicate. He was the perfect soldier in every way, with the exception of an obedience issue. Later files had indicated new programming strategies would have been more successful than the rudimentary programming they used in the 70s-80s.

The new mystery was Group Psi. They had a file, but almost no information. They weren't at the compound though, so either they were at another site or they had been Erased and their file wasn't updated. It seemed unlikely that their file wasn't updated, because the scientists took meticulous notes about every aspect of each group. The idea that there was another site did not sit well with Steve. He knew there were people unaccounted for – really all the people that mattered, but he hadn't considered the possibility of another testing site. Every group was accounted for, except for the last one. They had only been in for a year, so they were still young.

Skye and Jack were definitely not anywhere on that drive. Had they really not come from the compound? Where did they get all of their information?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll post another chapter fairly quickly to help you get over this one. Sorry


	8. Did you make this?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team disperses to seek distractions - and Steve realizes just how alone he is. Steve and Skye start their pranking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this makes up for the last chapter!

 

 

“Break?” Clint asked, though his tone suggested he required it. They all nodded and headed quickly out of the lab. Clint and Tasha headed to their floor and Tony escaped to Pepper's office. She wouldn't appreciate the interruption, but she would see Tony needed her. Steve also went to his floor, but only because he wasn't sure where else to go. Normally he would go to the gym and work out his feelings with a punching bag. But he hadn't quite worked himself up to anger yet – he was still stuck in grief and disgust.

Once again, Steve felt the almost unbearable pangs of loneliness. He felt irrationally jealous that everyone in the Tower had someone to share this with and he had no one. He just needed a distraction, something to take his mind off the images burned into his memory. Forgetting that Skye had mentioned going to bed, Steve pulled up his email program.

 

**Hey Doll,**

**We should hold off on our prank. Timing is everything, and today isn't the time.**

**Steve**

 

 

Skye responded instantly.

 

**What's wrong? What happened?**

 

She didn't bother with names or signatures. Her email was brief, yet captured her concern.

 

**We went through the hard drive. No ones in a joking mood. Me especially. I'm sorry to ruin your fun.**

 

 

**Want a distraction? I can recommend a really stupid movie. One of my favorites.**

 

 

**A distraction would be appreciated. Clint and Tasha ran off to their floor. Tony went to find Pepper.**

 

 

**So you're dealing with this on your own? Can I watch the movie with you? We can pretend like there aren't miles and miles between us – nice try, I'm not giving you a number.**

 

 

Despite himself, Steve grinned. He could easily imagine the fake exasperation that would be on her face as she refused to tell him where they were. With a number, they could at least narrow down where they had disappeared to.

 

**Does that mean you already know what the number is? Do you miss us? Would it be such a bad thing to come watch in person? I could use a person right now. People, even. I'll let you bring Jack. ;)**

**Steve**

 

 

**Nice try on the guilt trip. I'm so proud of you for figuring out smiley faces. I don't remember that being in our lessons. And yes, it would be a bad thing. It would lead them to you. I hacked your computer and put the movie on your desktop. Just double click and we can watch it. I would apologize for the hacking...but that would be a lie, and I don't do that.**

**S**

 

 

**You're just a pro at evasions and conversation changes. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself - and you, if you let me. You should really consider taking me up on this. Please.**

**Steve**

 

 

Steve was glad he didn't expect a response from Skye after that, because he would have been disappointed if he was waiting for her to give in. They watched the movie, _Cool Runnings_ , together, but separately. Skye emailed him the best quotes to his phone, timing it perfectly so he received the message just as the lines were being delivered on his screen.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

Steve sat down at the table, observing his teammates. They seemed to be in better moods. Clint and Tasha were sitting a little closer than they typically would, but she wasn't clinging to him anymore. Tony and Pepper were calmly discussing some aspect of SI. Bruce had finally emerged from his floor and was currently plowing through his plate of spaghetti. Steve smiled and helped himself to some spaghetti. He saw a questionable lump in the sauce and glanced towards Tony. He knew by the way Tony refused to meet his eye that he had been responsible for the sauce.

“Did you make this?” Steve asked, the ladle hovering over the bowl of sauce. Pepper looked away, reaching down to straighten her shoe. Bruce froze mid-bite and swiveled his head to hear Tony's response.

“Tony?” Bruce asked, suddenly looking very suspiciously at his remaining food.

“I stirred.” Tony said loftily. “Surely stirring can't kill you.”

“Hmm,” Steve acknowledged doubtfully, spooning sauce over his noodles. Bruce seemed to decide he had already ingested enough to make him sick, if it was going to, and resumed eating.

Steve wasn't a picky eater. He had grown up during the Great Depression, so he knew the value of food on the table. But he had suffered through enough of Tony's cooking to be hesitant. One particular incident sprang to mind, where the Avengers couldn't avenge because they were all stuck in the bathroom with varying degrees of food poisoning. Steve frowned at Tony's conspicuously full plate. He glanced at Pepper's plate and saw she only had the noodles. She caught his eye and shook her head ever so discretely.

“I saw that,” Tony muttered dryly. “It's not that bad.”

“You aren't eating it.” Clint pointed out, helping himself to some garlic bread. Steve noticed he didn't have a plate in front of him.

“I was talking!” Tony defended. “See, I'm eating.”

Tony took a very small forkful of the noodles and sauce, then made an exaggerated eating motion. He chewed very slowly and very carefully. He glanced at Bruce, then picked something from his mouth. Steve ducked his head to hide his smile and almost missed the giant swallow that Tony did to get rid of the food in his mouth. It looked painful, so he probably hadn't chewed it well enough. Steve couldn't hide his laughter. He pushed his plate away from himself and pulled out his phone.

“See? It's perfectly edible.” Tony announced grandly, like it was the best meal he had ever eaten. Tasha smirked at Clint.

“Remember what happened the last time Bruce got food poisoning?”

“Nose goes on cleaning up the cage,” Clint announced loudly. Steve absently pressed a finger to his nose as he typed out a message to Skye. Last time, Bruce lost control and the Hulk suffered the effects of the food poisoning. The cage designed to hold the Hulk did not come equipped with a bathroom.

“Aw man!” Tony groaned. Steve didn't have to look up to know who lost the nose goes.

 

 

**Ninja Feet,**

**Looks like the moment has arrived. Tony is trying to kill us with food poisoning. Let's modem him.**

**Steve**

 

 

 

He turned the ring volume up as high as it would go and set his phone down on the table. Then he helped himself to some garlic bread. Clint and Tasha were both eating it, so it must be safe. Steve had only taken one bite when Skye replied back. The very loud sound of an ancient internet modem rang through the room. The entire table turned in sync to look at Steve. He ignored them and looked at Skye's reply.

 

 

**Psh, modem him. God, you sound like a grandpa. ;) I'm hacking into the audio on your phone...yes, another loop hole. I love me a good prank.**

**S**

 

 

 

**Of course you did. I'm not even surprised by you anymore.**

**Steve**

 

 

“What the hell did you do to your phone?” Tony asked, tossing his fork down.

“Sorry. It's loud right? I keep meaning to Google how to turn it down, but that requires me to find the internet. Someone,” Steve shot a dirty look at Clint, “Erased the internet from my computer.”

“You can't erase the internet!” Tony huffed. Tasha and Pepper were both laughing and trying to hide it behind their hands. Steve vehemently wished Skye could capture this moment. It was the most fun he had in...well, way too long.

“Hey! I didn't touch your computer!” Clint replied. Steve almost grinned and blew his cover. Of course he hadn't touched his computer, but no one would believe his denials. Messing with Steve's technology was exactly the kind of prank Clint would enjoy.

“What do you mean, he erased the internet?” Tasha asked patiently. She did a master job of suppressing her laughter. Steve shrugged.

“The picture is gone.”

“The picture.” Tony repeated.

“Yeah, the big, blue E.” Steve replied, keeping his eyes wide and innocent.

 

**OMFG DID YOU JUST REFERENCE INTERNET EXPLORER? You've got game, sir. I'm seriously impressed.**

**S**

 

Tony was staring at Steve. There was a slight wince frozen on his face from Skye's last message.

“You're joking right? This is a joke. I'm waiting for someone to pop out and tell me I just got punk'd.” Tony said, leaning towards Steve.

“Hmm, I need to add that to my book. Don't get that reference.” Steve muttered, using the distraction to keep his face straight. “How do you spell punked? You know what? Never mind. I'll figure it out.”

“First, why are you using 'the big, blue E'?” Tony asked, frowning. He threw air quotes around Steve's words. Somehow, he found himself kneeling on the table. Steve wasn't sure when he had crawled up there. “Second, why didn't you tell anyone it disappeared?”

“It said internet.” Steve replied, pretending to be offended by Tony's tone. “What was I supposed to use? See, this is why I didn't tell you. I can see the condescension all over your face!”

“THE BIG, BLUE E DOESN'T EVEN COUNT AS INTERNET!” Tony replied loudly, pushing forward towards Steve. Pepper put a hand on his elbow, pulling him back into his chair.

“Internet is internet,” Pepper told him firmly. “If that's what Steve is comfortable with, then don't yell at him.”

“Internet may be internet, but not all web browsers were created equal!” Tony replied hotly.

“Honestly, I like the speed that it runs.” Steve offered, casually eating another bite of his garlic bread. “You and your new fangled browsers...is that what you called it? They run too fast and I get all confused and click too many things and end up somewhere I don't want to be.”

“Call an ambulance,” Clint muttered to Tasha, watching Tony put a hand over his heart.

“Run too fast.” Tony exhaled. Bruce watched the interaction, helping himself to more spaghetti, though he did skip the sauce this time. He followed Pepper's lead and added a bit of the butter garlic sauce intended for the bread sticks to his noodles.

 

 

**Oh, shit. Totally know what I'm getting him for his birthday.**

**S**

 

 

“Oh, God. Turn it off,” Tony moaned. Tasha was eying Steve, trying to figure him out. “Give me your phone. I'm fixing this.”

“No,” Steve muttered, typing a reply out to Skye.

“Excuse me?” Tony gasped, holding his hand out for the phone. “Give me the phone, Rogers.”

“Make me, Stark.” Steve replied evenly, hitting send.

 

 

**You should come back for that. I mean, not here. You can pick the place. We will meet you anywhere you're comfortable. Mystery dinner date? He would never suspect it, and we can record his reaction.**

**Steve**

 

 

“You know you won't catch him,” Tasha rolled her eyes.

“Just drop it Tony,” Clint nodded. “It kind of suits him. Ancient internet for the ancient man.”

“Who are you texting anyway?” Bruce asked, twisting his noodles onto his fork.

“Agent Trip needed some baby advice.” Steve shrugged. That was true. It was last night, but it was true. Now he understood Skye's obsession with loop holes. He couldn't be accused of lying.

“Aw look, he's making friends.” Clint cooed, grinning at Steve. He ducked just fast enough to dodge the spoon Steve chucked at him.

“You gonna come put some internet back on my computer, since you took it in the first place?” Steve asked, frowning at Clint.

“I didn't steal your stupid internet explorer.” Clint replied. “Frankly, I'm offended that you think I did.”

Four sets of eyes swiveled to Clint, making Steve grin. He knew it would be perfect to blame Clint. He was also stupidly happy that he had impressed Skye. He hid the grin away before the attention was off Clint.

“Fine, okay. I do some pranking – BUT I always fess up to it. I didn't do this!” Clint argued, crossing his arms. He sat back and muttered incoherently. Tasha could obviously hear him though because she was grinning.

 

 

 


	9. We need to have a conversation about that?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Clint visit Coulson and the kids they rescued. They all find out something bad about the guards they took down.

 

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“I can't believe you think I stole your internet,” Clint huffed, walking beside Steve.

“Someone had to. Sorry, it seemed like something you would do.” Steve shrugged, trying to play off the joke.

“Yeah, well. It was kind of awesome, whoever did it. Wish I had thought of it, to be honest.” Clint grinned, happy that he had finally gotten Steve to admit that maybe he hadn't done it after all.

“Think they made much progress with those kids?” Steve asked, opening the door to headquarters.

“I think they would have told us if they had,” Clint replied, scanning the open area as they walked. “Besides, they've only had the hard drive for a few days. That's not much time at all.”

“True.”

“If Skye came back, you know she would have broken them already.” Clint added.

“They know something we don't,” Steve agreed. “Do you think she doesn't trust us? Is that why she won't come back?”

“I don't know,” Clint said carefully, hearing the slight whine in Steve's voice. He hadn't realized just how much Steve missed her. “Tasha thinks she's just really that scared of...whoever. Centipede? ...but she's not on that drive. Centipede was too thorough to not have her in their files, if she was part of that.”

“But they know so much...”

“They know about other things that we don't know about either,” Clint shrugged. “She must have her sources. Maybe she ran into someone from Delta and is protecting them.”

“That's true.” Steve conceded. “She is quite protective of her people, isn't she?”

“You would know. You're one of _her boys_.” Clint laughed, shoving Steve's shoulder. Steve grinned and ducked his head. He liked being one of her boys, even if he had to share that title with Tony. The pair fell into a comfortable silence, walking towards Dock 2 to meet Coulson on his plane. From there, they would go see the children.

“I wonder what ever happened to 47.” Steve mused.

“47?” Clint asked, cocking his head.

“Yeah. 1027 said they never found him. He could help us track down the people in charge of Centipede.”

“If we could find him.” Clint shrugged. “We don't even know what he looks like. All we know is that he's smart, takes well to training, and has a high pain tolerance.”

“Stop being such a Debbie Downer.” Steve muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“I'm not going to let you get your hopes up over a ghost. Hell, we don't even know if he's alive.” Clint replied realistically.

“I just want them back.”

“You want her back,” Clint grinned. “You're still half scared of Jack.”

“I'm not scared of him.” Steve retorted hotly. “I just...don't know how to...God, you're such a...”

“You know you love me,” Clint laughed, fluttering his eyelashes. Steve reached for him so he bolted around the corner, running from the angry Super Soldier.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“So, you have nothing.” Clint clarified, watching Coulson's team work.

“Nothing has worked so far,” Coulson acknowledged. “Your source knows how to fix this.”

“Yeah, well, if you could convince her to come out of hiding, more than just the kids would be grateful.” Clint replied, glancing over at Steve's back. He was hunched over, listening to Fitz explain something about their attempts.

“She seems to have taken to the team.” Coulson observed.

“And we've taken to her.” Clint nodded. “We need to clean up this mess so she can come back. Hopefully.”

“I don't understand.” Coulson smiled, watching Steve huff in frustration. Fitz looked just as frustrated. Apparently, they couldn't get on the same page. Simmons hovered near the doorway of the lab, just watching the duo. There was a small smile on her face that mirrored Coulson's.

“Our theory which, granted, has largely been disproven, is that she came from the facility. She's scared shitless of Centipede. She walked into the Tower throwing some _hilariously_ dirty jokes towards Rogers – God, you should have seen his face! - and didn't so much as bat an eye, even when all four of us were in the interrogation room. But she turned tail and ran at Centipede's mention. We're hoping if we clear them out, they'll come back.”

“They? She's with the other source?”

“Most likely.” Clint nodded. “I'm not going to tell you anything else about them.” Clint added as Coulson opened his mouth again. He frowned and clamped his mouth shut. Clint grinned at his frustration. He couldn't help but add, “Sorry, sir. You don't have the clearance to access that information.”

“God, I liked you so much better when you were a scared little rookie.” Coulson sighed. “Romanov ruined you.”

“Romanov completes me,” Clint replied, his voice dripping with sugar.

“So you guys have nothing on the scientists?” Coulson asked, getting back on topic. “If you want Centipede gone so you can get your girl back, seems like that's a good place to start.”

“It's a very good place to start.” Clint acknowledged. “Only problem is, we don't know anything about them.”

“We have a room full of kids that know all about them.” Coulson reminded him.

“But the programming...Oh, the other kids.” Clint nodded, catching on just a little too slow. He hadn't been sleeping enough lately. Between Avengers missions, Shield missions, training, Tasha, and the damn nightmares, Clint was incredibly sleep deprived.

“It's just Group Tau that's programmed,” Coulson nodded. “The younger two groups are fine.”

“Think we can talk to them?”

“I don't know, do you have the clearance?” Coulson sassed, raising an eyebrow. Clint grinned and tossed an arm around his mentor.

“Have I mentioned how glad I am that you're not dead?”

“Have I mentioned how glad I am that you didn't let Romanov kill me for not telling you guys?”

“Ha!” Clint snorted. “We were pretty mad at first, not going to lie. But Fury is Fury. We've all had orders we didn't like. There's usually a damn good reason for them.”

“I haven't figured out what they are yet, but then again, I don't know much about what happened to me either.”

“When we're done with Centipede, we can look into it.”

“Hacker girl going to help you?” Coulson asked, smirking.

“Only if you help us get her back first.” Clint laughed. They both dropped the subject when Steve abandoned Fitz and joined them.

“You never did mention why you brought the girl into the Tower. What did she do?” Coulson asked.

“She hacked Tony.” Steve replied, smirking at Clint.

“A girl hacked Tony Stark?” Coulson asked, impressed.

“Her name is Skye.” Steve informed Coulson. He didn't like hearing her referred to as “the girl.”

“And she's itty bitty.” Clint added helpfully.

“I can't see Mr. Stark being protective of her, if she stole stuff from his servers.” Coulson mused, digging for more information. Steve and Clint grinned at each other.

“She didn't steal anything.” Steve offered.

“She left something behind.” Clint added.

“Okay, stop teasing me and just tell me what she did.” Coulson sighed, tossing his hands up in frustration.

“She sent Tony the program,” Steve said. “Maybe you should just come by some time and see it.”

“I wonder if Tony can hack into Shield,” Clint muttered to Steve, whipping his phone out. “We can see how good Shield's hackers are. I wonder how long it would take to remove Humping Man from their computers.”

“I'm going to hear about this, aren't I?” Steve asked, smirking despite himself. Clint grinned and nodded.

“Do I even want to know what you're whispering about?” Coulson asked, watching the interaction. The two grins that answered his question had him worried. “Oh. This is going to be bad, isn't it?”

“Do you want to hear about Skye's theories on Steve's sexual...”

“Shut it!” Steve hissed, clamping his hand over Clint's mouth. He started dragging his friend to the door. “We're going to go talk to those kids, Coulson.”

“But I want to hear this!” Coulson laughed, watching Clint struggle. He got his mouth free for just long enough to shout something that sounded like “wad of cum,” which had Coulson way more intrigued than worried.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“You were really going to tell Coulson about Skye's theories?” Steve hissed, shoving Clint towards the room where the children were. Clint laughed and grinned at his friend over his shoulder.

“Technically, they're just from the internet. She was just the one that enlightened you. Are you going to enlighten me and tell me which one is the truth?”

“No.” Steve grunted, fighting a blush.

“Aw, why not?” Clint grinned.

“We don't know each other nearly well enough for us to have that conversation.” Steve replied, giving Clint a serious look. “Ever.”

“What if I told you about mine?” Clint offered. “Tasha likes it rough. The mushy stuff freaks her out...”

“I don't need or want to know about that.” Steve interrupted. His face was burning painfully.

“Is it the huge wad of cum theory?” Clint continued. “We could get one of your fan girls to help you fix that problem. Could I be present though? I would love to know what seventy years of cum looks like.”

“Are you done yet?” Steve asked patiently.

“Nope.” Clint smirked.

“Well, put it on pause at the very least. These children don't need to know about any of that.” Steve said firmly, stopping outside a door. Clint worked his face into his agent mask and pretended to zip his lips shut. Steve smirked and shook his head. “Thank you, Agent Barton.”

“You're welcome, Agent Rogers.” Clint replied in a deep, serious voice.

“Agents!” A voice called from down the hall. Steve pulled his hand from the door and turned towards the door. “Agent Rogers, Agent Barton?” The young looking agent asked.

“Yes?” Clint replied, frowning.

“You're needed in the containment center, immediately.” The youth reported.

“What for?” Clint sighed.

“Something has happened to the kids you brought in.”

“But they're in here.” Steve pointed out, jerking his thumb towards the door.

“Not those kids. The ones you brought in unconscious.”

“The guards?” Clint asked, getting more and more confused.

“Sure. I don't know. I was just told to get you. Agent Coulson will meet us down there.”

“Lead on.” Steve replied, gesturing for the boy to get going.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“What's going on, Coulson?” Clint asked when they joined Coulson in the observation deck.

“They're dead.” Coulson replied, waving his hand towards the prone forms of the guards.

“What do you mean, they're dead?” Steve growled. “You promised to take care of them. They were experimented on too.”

“We didn't do it!” Coulson replied, throwing his hands up.

“Coulson, what happened?” Clint asked again.

“Fitzsimmons are looking them over now. They'll give us their primary findings in a few minutes.”

“Sir?” Fitz called from down below. “You need to see this.”

“Care to join me?” Coulson offered. Steve nodded and followed Coulson down the stairs. “What do you need to show me, Fitz?”

“Look at their eyes!” Simmons pointed out. One eye was crossed, looking at the nose.

“They're all like that, sir.” Fitz added.

“We'll need to do a full autopsy to confirm,” Simmons mused, looking at the tablet Fitz handed her. “But it seems like there was some sort of kill switch in the eye.”

“Kill switch?” Steve asked, frowning. What had the world come to?

“Yes.” Fitz nodded, taking his tablet back. “I had the Dwarfs scan the bodies for toxins and injuries. Look at this.”

He handed Steve the tablet, peering over the edge to point out something on the screen. Clint shuffled closer, looking over Steve's elbow at the screen. The tablet had a scan of one of the guard's heads, showing something mechanical behind the eye.

“What is it?” Steve asked, cocking his head at the screen. Clint looked up as well, looking for the answer.

“Cybernetic eye.” Fitz said briefly. “I'll have to look into it, preferably after Simmons removes the...biological aspect.” Fitz had a disgusted expression on his face that made Steve smile. He could see why Fitz was an engineer and not in biochem like his partner.

“Tony is going to love this.” Clint muttered, taking another look at the tablet.

“Uh, er...I'd like to have a look first.” Fitz stammered, ducking his head.

“It did happen on our watch.” Coulson agreed. Steve fought to contain his grin.

“I'll see if I can keep Tony off your back for a few days, but you'll have to bring him in eventually.” Steve agreed.

“You're going to have to bring that one up.” Clint shook his head. “He's going to be pissed.”

“He'll get over it. Fitz gets first dibs.” Steve smiled at the proud look that Fitz tried to hide. “Can we scan the other children? I don't want to have to tell Sk...I don't want the other children to end up dead if we can prevent it.”

“Smooth.” Clint smirked.

“Yes!” Fitz practically shouted. “We can go do that right now. Bollocks. I didn't even think of them.”

“We'll go with you.” Clint offered. “Wouldn't want to get Agent Rogers in trouble with a certain someone.”

“Oh, who?” Fitz asked, before realizing it wasn't any of his business. “Sorry, never mind.”

Steve elbowed Clint and stormed off towards the children. Clint laughed and hurried to follow.

“Sorry, couldn't resist.” Clint admitted, catching up to Steve.

“You're fine.” Steve replied shortly.

“Hmm, yes. Your tone says exactly that.” Clint pointed out.

“I just want...” Steve paused, sighing. “The kids need to be okay, alright?”

“Fitz is very capable. He'll tell us if there's anything we need to worry about.”

“Bloody hell you two are fast,” Fitz huffed, running to catch up. Three drones followed after him like puppies.

“Sorry, Fitz.” Clint smiled, slowing his pace. “These your Dwarfs?”

“Yeah.” Fitz said proudly. “It's an acronym, actually. Drones Wirelessly Automated to Retrieve Forensics. D.W.A.R.F.s.”

“You've been in Shield too long,” Steve grinned. “Did you have the acronym first or the name?”

“Eh, the acronym.” Fitz admitted. “I was happy with them being just Dwarfs – there are seven of them. But Simmons didn't think that sounded professional enough...so...”

“Hmm, like the night night pistol?” Steve laughed.

“I thought it was an icer?” Clint asked, hiding his smirk. Fitz huffed and crossed his arms, almost causing his drones to crash behind him.

“They're night night guns, no matter what anyone else calls them.” He practically growled. His accent got stronger when he was agitated. Steve and Clint exchanged a small smile.

“All right, do your stuff.” Clint announced, throwing the door open to the room where the children were.

“54985870?” 1027 asked, frowning.

“Hey kiddo,” Steve smiled. “Call me Steve, please.”

“What are you doing here?” The boy asked.

“What, am I not allowed to visit?” Steve asked, smiling. Clint was already mingling with another group of children.

“If you're just visiting, then what is that guy doing?” 1027 asked, watching Fitz's drones distrustfully.

“He's just scanning you guys to make sure you're okay.” Steve replied. “Are you okay?”

“What's going to happen to us?” 1027 asked softly. “We've always had a purpose, a task...but now...”

“I don't know what's going to happen.” Steve replied honestly. “They're still working on a solution that will make everyone happy. The person that spoke to you on the plane, she cares a lot about what happens to you. I'll make sure you're taken care of, okay?”

“You have that kind of power?” He asked, frowning.

“Technically, no.” Steve replied honestly. “But I've got friends in high places.”

“Captain Rogers,” Fitz called out from across the room, hurrying to the man's side. “They're clean. No sign of...”

“That's great news,” Steve interrupted before Fitz could talk about the eye.

“We're okay?” 1027 asked. Steve grinned and ruffled the boy's hair.

“Well, you're a little crazy, but it adds to your charm.”

“I do have a lot of charm.” 1027 admitted, looking completely serious. Steve chuckled and shook his head.

“I was coming to talk to you and your group, actually.” Steve admitted. “We have all the data from your compound, but there isn't anything on the hard drive about the scientists. We were hoping you could tell us about them.”

“Even group Delta?” 1027 asked hopefully.

“Every group BUT Delta.” Steve admitted.

“Dang.”

“Why? Are you curious about Delta?”

“Well, yeah. I mean...we're supposed to be like them. But I don't really know how to be like them. All I know is that we failed.”

“You didn't fail.” Steve replied warmly, pulling the boy to a table. “Their science just didn't work on you. You should be grateful.”

“Yeah...some of the other groups turned out bad.” 1027 nodded. “I just want to make him happy.”

“Who?” Steve asked, cocking his head in confusion.

“Um...I'm not allowed to say.”

“47?” Steve guessed. 1027 shrugged noncommittally.

“They were never happy with our results. They weren't bad...but they weren't good enough. I just want to be good enough.”

“Aw, kid. You are good enough.” Steve said firmly. “Just because you didn't meet their totally messed up expectations doesn't mean you're not good enough.”

“I just want him to be proud of...” 1027 started, but was interrupted by the Avenger alarm going off on Steve's phone.

“Damn. I've got to go. I'll come back and visit though, okay?” Steve promised.

“It's okay if you don't.” 1027 shrugged. “I would understand.”

“I'll be back.” Steve said firmly, heading for the door. Clint was already there, bouncing anxiously.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thinking about three updates a week for the summer. We'll see how that turns out.


	10. Skylar Elizabeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Skye continue their pranking and Tony catches on...a little bit. Jack sends Steve a very special gift

 

 

Over the next week and a half, Steve and Skye planned and executed a handful of small pranks on Tony. She admitted to having a ghost protocol hidden in Jarvis, so she could put the AI in privacy mode when Steve needed plausible deniability. Since Steve proved the reliability of his poker face with the ring tone, Skye felt like they could up the ante a bit.

First, Skye taught Steve how to over-ride the Tower's ventilation system. One morning, the resident superheroes woke to a freezing tower. Somehow, the temperature had been lowered on the air conditioning controls. When Tony accused Steve, he just scoffed. _Yeah, Tony. I missed the ice so much I needed to turn the Tower into an igloo. Besides, I can barely work the microwave, how do you suppose I did this?_ Tony had to acknowledge the logic and moved on to yell at Tasha.

A few days later, the Tower was unbearably hot. Tony didn't even accuse Steve this time. He went straight for Bruce, shouting that this wasn't India. Steve made it to his room before he bust into laughter.

Tony started suspecting Skye's involvement on the third prank. Steve had been mastering Tony's complex entertainment center with her help, so she thought it would be funny to mess it up. She gave Steve instructions on how to disrupt all of the settings, then erased the footage of him doing so. When Steve asked Tony for help with the TV, claiming _he may have hit a wrong button or something_ , Tony found his system completely offline. After sorting through the major issues, Tony found the more discrete issues Steve had disrupted – like his new DVR recording list. Tony huffed out a frustrated breath and shouted at the ceiling, _Skylar Elizabeth! I know you're doing this!_

Steve couldn't wait to let Skye know about that development.

 

Prank Master,

Did you know you're Skylar Elizabeth when you're in trouble? Courtesy of your father. What is your full name, out of curiosity?

Your humble prank assistant

 

 

Prank Assistant,

I don't know. I don't have one.

S

 

 

A few minutes later, he received an angry text from Jack.

**Hey putz, I don't know what you did but Skye's crying. You better fix your fuck up.**

 

 

Skye,

I'm sorry, doll. Please don't cry. How can I make this better?

Steve

 

 

Steve,

My brother is a rotten person. Don't believe a word he says. I'm good. Never had a full name before. The orphanage gave me some shit name that I ditched ages ago.

S

 

 

Steve took that new bit of information and chewed it over. It was the first substantial thing he knew about her – that she was an orphan. Sure, he could tell you her favorite color was blue. _Sky blue?_ Steve had asked jokily. _It was the first thing I saw on the outside._ He could tell you that no matter how full she was, she would always have room for french fries. If she was feeling her sweet tooth, she liked to dip her fries in vanilla ice cream. He could tell you about her fascination with terribly made movies. She had insisted he watch _Kung Pow_ , her favorite karate movie, and _Clue_ , her favorite mystery. Steve had emailed with her through the entire movie, shaking his head at her obvious amusement. He may have been stupider for having watched them, but he couldn't deny how good it felt to laugh. How good it felt to watch a movie for the sake of watching a movie and not for catching up with society. Steve sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He didn't know how to respond to that, not without saying something that would probably scare her away.

 

 

Skye,

If you'd like, I can come up with a better name for you. Do you mind if I make Skye your middle name? You could be Anakin Skye Walker. Annie for short.

Steve

 

 

 

Steven Grant Rogers,

YOU WATCHED STAR WARS! I'm so proud. And also disappointed. Did you watch all six? We can have a marathon sometime.

Annie

P.S. Jack is ready to send you what you requested earlier. Sorry it took so long. We couldn't agree.

 

 

Steve frowned at the screen, wondering what he had requested from her. Well, besides her coming back. He had given up on that pretty quickly. She hadn't emailed him for a whole dreadful day after he pushed his luck. A blank email popped up in his email, and he hesitantly opened it. If Jack was involved, he was afraid of what he would find. A video took over his screen. Skye was laying on a bed, laughing. Jack mumbled something off camera, then came to lay beside her on the bed. The camera must have been suspended above them.

“Jack, you can't be that close. His head will be tiny!” Skye giggled, trying to shove her brother back. Jack laughed easily and scooted closer, kissing Skye on her nose. She made a face and smacked him.

“You're disgusting.”

“Okay, we'll just keep scooting back.” Jack countered after he got done rubbing his shoulder. “When I edit him in, we'll agree on how big his head should be.”

Jack looked right at the camera and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Steve felt his face heat even with the distance between them. If they would send him a video, maybe they could do a video chat sometime. Steve couldn't see the difference in the two forms of communication. Skye giggled her agreement and they both turned on their sides. They made kissy faces at each other, giggling. Jack would make a noise in his throat and the two would slide back on the pillow, a little bit at a time. Steve frowned in confusion. He couldn't figure out what they were doing, but he did remember his request for a picture of Skye.

The video was even better. Jack was obviously satisfied with their work and pulled Skye into a hug. She sighed contently and draped her arm around him. They laid in silence for about two seconds, then Jack poked Skye and she burst out laughing again. The video ended with Skye giggling and telling the camera, _This may be the stupidest thing I've ever done._ Jack got off the bed to turn the camera off and the video froze on Skye's laughing face. Her hair was strewn all over the pillow and her cheeks were red from laughing. Steve smiled fondly at the image.

Another email popped up and Steve opened it without consideration. He found a picture attached. His head was between theirs on the pillow, with each of them kissing one of his cheeks. Oh, now he understood the kissy faces. He saved the picture to his desktop, grinning when he accomplished his task without having to look up the instructions. Then he played the video again. It was way better than the picture.

**You were only supposed to get the picture. She'll murder me in my sleep if she finds out I've sent you the video. You may want to save that to a flash drive before she finds it and deletes it. You're welcome.**

Steve scrambled off his bed to find a flash drive. When he couldn't find one, he ran from his room, shouting for help. He couldn't lose the video. It was literally the only thing he had of Skye.

“What's wrong?” Clint asked, sliding into the common area.

“I need a flash drive, right now!” Steve told him seriously. Clint just started laughing. “It's not funny!”

“What's happening?” Tony asked, rushing into the room. Jarvis must have alerted him that Steve was panicked.

“Tony, thank God. I need a flash drive. Now. Please.” Steve begged.

“What for?” Tony asked, pulling a flash drive from his pocket.

“An emergency. Please, can I have that?” Steve asked again.

“Tell me what for!” Tony replied, crossing his arms.

“It's private!” Steve replied, rushing Tony. Tony's eyes went wide and he tried to run, but Steve was a super soldier. He tackled Tony to the ground, making a wheeze escape from Tony's mouth. Steve pried the flash drive from Tony's fingers and rushed from the room.

“What just happened?” Clint asked, offering Tony his hand. Tony wheezed from the floor and let Clint pull him up.

“I haven't the foggiest,” Tony replied, rubbing his elbow. “But that hurt like a bitch. Now I know how Loki felt.”

“Well, now I guess you know better than to mess around with him when he's clearly distraught,” Tasha grinned, watching from the doorway. “I'm really curious what he's trying to do. We all know he doesn't know how to use that flash drive.”

“I'll check on him,” Tony offered. He took the elevator to Steve's floor, taking the courtesy of knocking before entering. He found Steve on his bed, typing on his computer. Steve didn't look up when Tony entered the room. “You seemed like you were in a hurry. Do you need help saving anything?”

“I got it,” Steve muttered, flushing red. He slammed his laptop shut and pulled the flash drive. He shoved it into his pocket, unwilling to hide it while Tony was present.

“I'm not going to lie...you have me curious.” Tony said finally, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway.

“Curiosity killed the cat,” Steve replied shortly. Jack had hacked the Tower feed and watched Steve scramble for a flash drive, then sent him an email teasing him about it. Apparently Skye's promise not to hack the Tower hadn't extended to Jack. When Tony raised his eyebrows at his tone, Steve recognized how rude he was being. “Sorry, Tony. That was uncalled for. Thank you for the flash drive.”

“You're welcome. I'm almost always packing.” Tony replied easily. “You gonna tell me what that was about?”

“No...” Steve shrugged.

“You're just making me more curious.” Tony threatened. “Plus, you're bright red. I _need_ to know.”

“Really, you don't.” Steve replied sternly.

“No need to break out Captain America,” Tony chuckled. “I'll drop it.”

He casually strolled back to the elevator. Just before the doors closed, Tony added, “For now.”

 

 

 


	11. You really need a name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve keeps his promise to 1027.

 

 

Steve didn't forget his promise to 1027. He visited as often as he could, which usually meant every other day or every third day. Today was one of those days.

“Steve!” 1027 shouted, grinning.

“I don't know why you act so surprised, every single time.” He laughed, catching the boy as he threw himself at Steve.

“Just cause you say you're coming back doesn't mean you're going to.” 1027 shrugged.

“We really need to find a name for you.” Steve replied, dodging the issue. He couldn't promise to always show up when he said he would – Avengers missions came before the children, no matter how much he enjoyed spending time with them. Besides, the expression on the boy's face illustrated clearly how little his words meant. He would have to show the boy he would keep coming back.

“My name is 1027.”

“No, it's not. That's your number, not your name.”

“You have a number.”

“Yes, but my name is Steve.”

“Fine, then I'll be Steve too.”

“No!” Steve chuckled, tossing the boy over his shoulder. “Find your own name. This one is mine.”

“Fine. You be Steve. I'll be Steven.”

“That's still my name.”

“I like you. I like your name.”

“Fine. How's it going, Steven?”

“Steve, it certainly is going.”

“God, you sound like an old man. We need to go to a movie or something. A kid movie.”

“We could have ice cream!” The newly named Steven decided.

“Do I want to see you on sugar?” Steve laughed.

“YES!”

“Fine. I'll see if we can rent out an ice cream place for a few hours. We'll take everyone.” Steve grinned, rustling the boy's hair.

“You could just go get some stuff and we can make it here.” Steven shrugged. “It seems like a lot of work and I really just want the ice cream. We don't need to leave and expose everyone.”

“I would keep you safe.” Steve said softly. The boy smiled faintly.

“Not from them you wouldn't.”

“You don't trust me?”

“It's not that.” The boy shrugged. “Really, it's not.”

“You're just that scared of them.”

“I just...don't want to go back.”

“I wish people would trust me to take care of them.” Steve sighed, settling back on the couch. A few of the children hanging around looked up at that.

“Other people?” Steven asked. Steve smiled wryly.

“Let me call Tony and he can bring us a bunch of ice cream.”

“You're changing the subject.”

“You're like...eight. You don't need to be worried about my problems.”

“Hmm, yeah. How about we make a deal? You and me go and get ice cream for everyone and pick a movie. I trust you to keep me safe.”

“God, you're such a brown noser.” Steve laughed.

“I don't understand...” Steven shrugged. “So, do we have a deal or what?”

“You'll help me pick out ice cream?” Steve asked.

“Sure thing. We're not picky. If I play my cards right, can we get some toppings?” The boy asked, looking up at Steve through his eyelashes. Steve threw back his head and laughed.

“Clint has been spending some time with you, hasn't he?”

“How'd you know!?” Steven frowned, pouting.

“We can definitely get some toppings. I'll call Tony and have him bring a projector, for the movie you pick out.”

“Deal. Let's bust this joint.”

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“I wasn't invited?” Clint asked loudly from behind Steve and Steven. Tony had brought a bunch of bean bags with the movie projector, so each child had their own spot. Except Steven, who was sharing with Steve. He was the youngest of the group, of both groups. Apparently, the scientists were harder on the youngest. No one could shed any insight as to why, but no one denied the truth behind it. Steve wondered if it was because 47 was the youngest of Gamma – but that would be stupid, considering the entire group was aged down to meet those age expectations.

“Shut up and grab a bean bag,” Steven hissed, pointing to the pile without looking away from the screen. Steve glanced over his shoulder and smirked at his friend. Tasha was standing beside him, grinning as well.

“Are you going to join us?” Steve asked. “ _3 Ninjas_ is up next.”

“Oh, please Nat?” Clint begged, already edging towards the bean bags.

“What am I? Your handler? Go get a bean bag, you baby.” Tasha frowned. Clint grinned and ran off. Tasha sat on the floor next to Steve. “I feel like I adopted a dog.”

“We could get a dog,” Steven suggested casually, eyes still on the screen. “Oh, or a monkey!”

“Fitz has been around, hasn't he?” Steve laughed.

“Course he has,” Steven shrugged. “It's cause I'm so cute and adorable.”

“Oh, God. Not this again.” Steve grinned. “You're ridiculous.”

“And charming.” Steven added, tearing his eyes from the screen to wink at Steve. Steve just shook his head and turned his attention back to Tasha.

“How long have you guys been back?”

“Just long enough to shower and get clean gear. Gonna need to find food at some point.”

“NAT! There's ice cream!” Clint shouted from across the room. Steven and Tasha smashed their hands to their faces at the same time, as the rest of the kids in the room shushed Clint loudly. They watched Clint come back with a bean bag under his arm and another dragging behind him. He was trying to balance a bowl of ice cream with his other hand, but he was off balance. Tasha muttered something in Russian and got up to help him.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

When all of the sugar worked out of Steven's system, the boy crashed...hard. He was out cold, curled into Steve's side. Clint looked like he was about ready to do the same thing against Tasha's shoulder.

“He picked a name, you know.” Steve said conversationally. The latest movie didn't hold his interest, but he couldn't bring himself to get up and disturb the boy.

“Oh, yeah?” Clint mumbled, making himself more comfortable against Tasha. She shook her head and raised her arm, letting Clint get closer.

“You've been asking him to pick one since you started visiting.” Tasha nodded. “What'd he pick?”

“Steven.”

“No, really. What'd he pick?”

“Steven.” He repeated, grinning. “He wanted Steve, but I told him it was taken.”

“Aw, you have a little mini-me.” Tasha cooed, smirking. “You sure have a way with kids.”

“Nah. I just have time to spend that others don't.” Steve replied, shaking his head. “I'm not a master assassin like you. Too well known for the bigger assignments. Too out of date for some smaller missions.”

“Let's throw him a pity party,” Clint sighed. He yawned heavily and let his eyes droop.

“Cap, you're needed.” Tasha nodded her agreement.

“I'm not fishing for complements,” Steve frowned. “I'm just explaining...God, you two suck.”

“Sorry, Cap.” Tasha grinned. “You're right though. You are too well known for some missions, but that's also exactly why you're perfect for other missions. It's a trade off, you can't have it both ways.”

“But I want it both ways.” Steve grinned, being stubborn on purpose.

“Well, then make yourself more tech savvy. I know you're working on that anyway.” Tasha smirked. Clint let out a little snore against Tasha's chest.

“Yeah, now that Clint put the internet back.” Steve nodded, feigning innocence.

“That's bullshit and you know it.” Tasha laughed lightly. “Your poker face is excellent, but you need to work on your innocent face. It's too over the top.”

“Fooled Tony,” Steve grinned proudly. It didn't surprise him that Tasha caught on. She was _the_ master spy, after all.

“You ever think about settling down, having kids?” Tasha asked after a minute. Steve looked surprised at her question. “I mean, you keep proving how good you are with them.”

“I don't know. Never gave it much thought, to be honest. Never had reason to. I'm busy...and it's not like there's anyone in my life that I would consider settling down with...so.”

“Not even Skye?” Tasha asked. Steve expected a teasing tone, but she was being serious.

“She's hiding from us.” Steve pointed out to avoid answering the question.

“She's hiding from Centipede.” Tasha retorted. “Probably.”

“Either way, I was a sickly child. You name it, I had it. All this...health...isn't genetic. I don't want to force my terrible genes on some poor kid.” Steve replied softly.

“Health.” Tasha snorted. “Only you would call your wall of muscle 'health.' Besides, medicine is a lot better now than it was in the 30's. I bet we've cured half the stuff you had.”

“This is a stupid conversation.” Steve sighed. “Even if I wanted to, and I don't, you can't reproduce with someone that you can't find.”

“Hmm.” Tasha nodded, turning back to the movie. She was dropping it for now.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I feel like there is a lot of fluff lately. There is one more chapter of fluffy stuff before the shit hits the fan.


	12. Steve is BORED

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve plans a prank of his own. He may or may not be trying to impress Skye. (He totally is).

Steve was bored.

BORED.

Skye was sleeping and he wasn't desperate enough to try talking to Jack. Tony was working with Bruce to look into the more scientific Centipede files. Tasha and Clint had gotten called in for a Shield mission and weren't expected back for a few hours.

He had just visited Steven and the other kids the day before and didn't want to travel all the way back to headquarters.

He had already gone for his run and did his daily workout. He had eaten and showered. He had meat marinading in the fridge for dinner. He had watched another movie off his list. He groaned and threw himself onto his bed. He wasn't used to being bored. He wasn't equipped to be bored. What could he do?

Steve sat up quickly. He could make his own prank. It was a win-win. He wouldn't be bored _and_ Skye would be amused. He wasn't sure when a girl that he barely knew – because Steve was _painfully_ aware of how little he knew about her – had become so important to him. But she was.

He pulled out his phone, intending to check his email again, but accidentally hit the camera icon instead. Steve grinned as inspiration hit him. He scrambled off the bed and headed to the elevator.

“Jarvis, take me to the lab. Please.” Steve asked, distracted with his phone. He grinned and bounced on the balls of his feet. Skye would get a kick out of this. Maybe, just maybe, she would be impressed with him - and his pranking abilities. He would like her approval, but the thought of surprising her with the pictures would be far more rewarding than any improvements she could offer.

“Yes, Mr. Rogers.”

“What are you doing up here, Capsicle?” Tony asked, fiddling with his computer. Bruce shook his head behind him.

“He means to say, it's nice to see you.” Bruce offered. Steve smiled and extended his hand towards Bruce.

“It's nice to see you too.”

“Didn't answer my question,” Tony pointed out, glancing up. “You make a point to avoid my lab, so what are you doing up here?”

“I'm bored.” Steve shrugged. “Figured I would take some pictures. Maybe you could help me send them to Skye later?”

“She never replies to the emails.” Tony replied huffily. Steve wanted to puff out his chest and declare that Skye replied to _his_ emails, but then he would have to admit that Skye was emailing with him. He didn't want to lose out on that, so he kept his mouth shut.

“Doesn't mean she doesn't open them.” Steve pointed out practically.

“I never met her,” Bruce replied. “Not sure she would want a picture of me.”

“We can make a video.” Tony offered, turning his chair to engage in the conversation. “Short little thing so you can introduce yourself?”

“Why would I do that?” Bruce asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We're going to clean up this Centipede mess, then she's going to come back.” Tony told him confidently. “You two might as well get on good terms now.”

“Fine. A very short one.” Bruce replied. Steve grinned and whipped his phone up.

“Wanna show me how to shoot a video?” Steve asked, looking at Tony. He groaned and walked over to Steve.

“One of these days, Grandpa, you're going to figure out this sparkly new world.”

“Yeah, well, until then...” Steve shrugged, holding his phone out. Tony rattled off some instructions and offered advice about what the best quality would be. Steve couldn't help but shake his head a little. Skye's instructions were so much better. If you want a picture, hit the button with a camera on it. If you want a video, hit the button with the video camera on it. He didn't know why Tony had to make it so complicated. Steve nodded his understanding to Tony's instructions and took his phone back.

“Smile Brucie,” Tony grinned, sitting back down in his chair.

“I don't know what to say.” He admitted, ducking his head shyly.

“Just introduce yourself.” Steve offered. He held his phone up and smiled. “Ready? Go.”

“Oh, uh.” Bruce frowned and cocked his head. “Hi? I'm Dr. Banner. Bruce. Bruce Banner. Uh, I'm a scientist.”

“What kind of scientist?” Steve prompted.

“Oh, uh. Nuclear physicist. I specialize in gamma radiation, which is why I'm on this team.”

“He turns into a giant rage monster.” Tony chimed in helpfully from the sidelines. “He's my science bro.”

“Is that good?” Bruce asked. Steve grinned.

“It's perfect. She's going to love it. Now, picture?” Steve asked, wiggling his phone. He turned the video off and switched it to camera mode.

“Science bros.” Bruce nodded.

“Okay, smile!” Steve grinned. Tony sidled up to Bruce and smiled slightly. “Great. I'm going to go find Pepper.”

“Find me when you want to send these.” Tony nodded, already turning his attention back to the project in front of him.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“Say that again?” Pepper asked, shuffling the papers on her desk. Running Stark Industries was immensely fulfilling, but Tony was a slob about it and she felt like half of her day involved cleaning up after him. At least Bruce kept him out of trouble, most days.

“Mr. Rogers is here to see you, ma'am.” The disembodied voice sounded from the phone.

“That's what I thought you said. Send him up.” Pepper sighed, mentally bracing herself for whatever bad news Steve was bringing her. He never came here. Steve walked in a few seconds later, smiling. “Well, it can't be that bad.”

“What's bad?” Steve asked, frowning slightly.

“Whatever news you're bringing me. You never visit.” Pepper replied easily. Steve grinned and shook his head.

“No bad news. No news at all, really. I'm just bored. Taking some pictures of the team to send to Skye.”

“You're going to do that?” Pepper asked, raising one delicate eyebrow. Steve ducked his head and laughed lightly.

“Nah, Tony will send them. I'm just taking them.”

“Hmm, that sounds more accurate. I'm not part of the team though.”

“You're our Tony wrangler. You're pretty much the most important person on our team,” Steve retorted firmly. Pepper couldn't disagree with his assessment. She was glad at least one person realized the work it took to keep Tony in line. Okay, _mostly_ in line. A curvy line. Yeah, a curvy line. Her lips quirked up.

“Where would you like me?”

“Right there is fine, if you'd like?” Steve shrugged, digging his phone out of his pocket. “Ruling the Stark world from your throne.”

“You flatter me,” Pepper smiled. Steve took the picture with a smile of his own.

“I only speak the truth. Thanks for the picture.”

“You're welcome. Thanks for distracting Tony. I've never seen him like this about someone before. I don't really understand. He barely knows her.”

“We don't understand either,” Steve smiled. The same things were true about him. He waved and ducked out of his office.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“Steve, we _just_ got in.” Clint sighed. Indeed, he was still covered in ash and soot. Their mission had gone up in flames - literally.

“Aw, Clint, look at him. Lover boy is all excited about it. Just let him take the damn picture.” Tasha interjected, smirking. Steve was bouncing up and down in place. After he got this picture, he was going to go back to Tony and have him send the pictures. He couldn't wait to see Tony's face.

“One picture?” Steve asked, pushing out his lip. "Please, Clint? You'll be my favorite archer ever."

“Oh my God. Stop that.” Clint sighed. “Take the damn picture so I can shower.”

“Okay.” Steve grinned, pulling his phone out. “Smile.” The camera clicked and Steve put his phone away. “Great, thanks guys. I'm going to go find Tony.”

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“Ready.” Steve announced, walking into the lab again. Bruce was sitting, sipping tea, just watching Tony do something on the computer screen.

“Just leave your phone there. I need to finish this quick.” Tony muttered distractedly. His attention was still on the project.

“What are you two working on anyway?” Steve asked, pulling up a chair beside Bruce.

“We were working on a facial recognition program, but we're having an issue with some of the coding. He kicked me out so he could fix it.” Bruce replied, taking another sip of his tea.

“Skye's not stupid enough to get caught on a facial recognition program, not if they've been on the run for this long.” Steve snorted. “Besides, she probably keeps track of where she goes and deletes that footage. I mean, she did that with her time in New York.”

“You're so negative.” Tony huffed.

“I guess maybe we could catch her real time – before she has the chance to delete stuff.”

“That's what I told him.” Bruce replied easily. “That's when he decided he could use it for something besides looking for his kid.”

“I can hear you two, you know that right?” Tony drawled, turning to point an accusing finger at Steve. “Besides, I wasn't the one that spent my whole afternoon tracking down people for a picture to send to her. At least I'm being productive.”

“Speaking of which, you should up load those pictures before you forget.”

“You're the old man here,” Tony replied dryly. “My memory is flawless.”

“Just send the damn pictures, Tony.” Bruce interjected.

“Fine! Geez, you ruin all my fun.” Tony muttered, plugging the phone into the computer system. Steve braced himself, forcing his laughter down his throat, trying desperately to maintain his poker face. He couldn't laugh now – not before Tony had even seen the pictures. Tony pulled up the images, cocking his head at the computer screen before blowing up the pictures and sending each one to a separate computer screen. Then he turned to face Steve, frowning aggressively. “This is what you spent all day on?”

Close up shots of segments of Steve's face were all over the lab. Bruce snorted tea out of his nose and reached for a tissue. One file was the video, so Tony clicked play. Instead of Bruce giving his blurb about himself, the video was of Steve's nose and eyes. Bruce's voice could be heard in the background.

“You didn't notice the screen was showing your face and not the people you wanted to take pictures of?” Tony asked with an exasperated sigh. Bruce was still chortling next to Steve. He knew which picture was supposed to be the Science Bros picture because he could see the lab behind Steve's head. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration.

“I don't know.” Steve shrugged, digging his fingernails into his palm so he was distracted enough not to laugh. Damn, this was hard. “I guess I just figured it was like that video chat thing you showed me once.”

“This is ridiculous.” Tony announced, waving to the pictures. “I'm so sending these to Skye so she can laugh at you too. Fucking Grandpa can't fucking figure out a fucking camera.”

“Wait – don't send them.” Steve bluffed. “I'll retake good ones.”

“Oh, no. Skye's definitely getting these. Someone might as well get a laugh.” Tony grinned and went to work, missing the satisfied smirk that Steve quickly hid. “Jarvis, could you send Merida and Spidey down here so they can see Capsicle's work as well?”

“Yes, Sir.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Per request, I'm going to throw in some Steve/Skye fluff before *dramatic voice* the dark stuff happens.


	13. Skye calls Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye responds to Steve's prank with a call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late. I am not totally satisfied with it, but can't figure out how to make it better. I hope you're happy with it anyway!

 

 

 

A few minutes after Tony sent the email, Steve's phone started blaring the old school modem sound. Steve waited, thinking it was an email. He wanted to see Tasha and Clint's reaction to his pictures. The sound continued on a loop.

“Will you answer your damn phone?” Tony ground out, looking physically pained at the noise.

“Oh, sorry.” Steve apologized, hurrying to dig his phone out. He couldn't remember the last time someone had actually called him on his cell phone. Not many people had the number. “Hello?”

There was a weird gasping noise on the other end of the line. Steve pulled the phone from his ear and frowned at it. There wasn't a number attached to the call. Skye.

“Hello?” Steve tried again, this time grinning. “Is this who I think it is?”

“Who do you think it is?” Bruce asked softly, quirking a small smile towards Steve.

“Computer,” Skye gasped.

“Say that again?” Steve laughed, heading towards the elevator.

“Get to your computer!” Jack yelled distantly.

“Got it,” Steve replied, hanging up. The call would drop in the elevator anyway. He all but ran to his room, rushing to get his laptop booted up. His efforts were rewarded. Skye's crying face filled his screen. “Oh, no. What's wrong doll?”

“Your face!” Skye gasped, holding her sides. Then he realized she was laughing. She must have seen his pictures. Steve grinned proudly.

“Did you like my project today?”

“Meh, it was okay.” Jack shrugged, standing behind Skye's chair. “I give you a three. You get some points for being unexpected.”

“How did Tony take it?” Skye giggled, calming enough to say actual words. She was still grinning widely and bouncing on the chair.

“I got a lecture.” Steve replied, sitting up straight. He put on a heavy frown and attempted to capture Tony's mannerisms. He waved one hand around grandly and smoothed his imaginary goatee. “I can't believe you wasted a whole day on this stupid project. You didn't notice that your face was in the screen and not the person you were taking a picture of?”

“Did he frown like that?” Skye laughed, raising her eyebrows expectantly. Steve nodded, grinning as wide as Skye. If he had known that planning his own prank would get him a video chat with her, he would have done it ages ago. As it was, his mind was already spinning, thinking up more prank ideas.

“There's a video?” Jack asked, leaning seductively into the frame. His loose shirt fell away from his chest and he pretended to be embarrassed. “Oh, sorry Stevie.” He murmured, batting his eyelashes at Steve through the computer. He made no effort to fix his wardrobe malfunction though. He even went as far as to press his incredibly flat chest together with his elbows, creating just the faintest hint of a crease in the middle of his chest. “See something you like?”

“Yeah, but it's not you.” Steve replied instantly. He realized what he said and slapped his hand over his mouth. He was pretty sure his face was on fire. Jack and Skye broke into giggles over his blush.

“I love me some blushing men,” Jack smirked, blowing a kiss.

“It's okay.” Skye said softly, pushing Jack from the frame. “If I wasn't totally unavailable, I would tell you I like what I see too.”

“You could make yourself more available.” Steve replied softly. He heard Jack bust into laughter in the background.

“He wants you to be a slut.”

“No! Doll, that's...not...oh my God, no...Skye...” Steve rambled quickly, flushing even redder. He dropped his head into his hands, frustrated. His words got stuck and he couldn't string together a sentence, but he hoped she got the message anyway. She left the frame for a second, grinning and holding up a finger. Seconds later, Jack was being dragged away from the computer.

“No, bad dog.” Skye scolded teasingly. Jack held up his arms in front of him as paws and panted with his tongue out.

“I could totally be Stevie's bitch,” Jack volunteered, leaning around his sister to tell it to the computer.

“Did your drug dealer finally come through with your uppers?” Steve asked, laughing. He pulled his laptop onto his lap and leaned back against his headboard.

“We had a movie day.” Skye laughed, returning to the computer.

“That explains this...how?”

“You can't have a movie day without snacks.” Jack yelled.

“Ah.” Steve nodded. “You handle sugar about as well as my namesake.”

“Namesake?” Skye asked, cocking her head at the screen.

“You know those kids we rescued?” Steve asked. Skye frowned but nodded. “Well, 1027 was the youngest. Group Chi. He's super clingy. Apparently things are worse for the youngest? I don't know. Well, I told him he had to pick a name because I was tired of calling him 1027. He wanted Steve, but I told him he couldn't. So he settled for Steven.”

“Aw, you have a little mini-me.” Skye cooed, grinning. “I should have known you would get all paternal. You were awfully good with that baby.”

“I had to be good at something,” Steve shrugged. “Kids like that I get to their level.”

“Dude, a tank isn't on your level!” Jack shouted. Skye twisted and shot her brother a look. Jack made a face back and stuck his tongue out.

“So, I promised not to hack the Tower, but can I hack Shield? I kinda wanna see you bonding.” Skye asked, grinning. Steve considered it for a moment.

“Nope. You could come and see me bonding in person.” Steve shrugged. Jack huffed out a surprised laugh. Skye chewed her lip, frowning.

“That's not fair.” Skye sighed.

“Life's not fair.” Jack retorted. “You know that better than most.”

“We can get french fries?” Steve offered, knowing full well he was pushing his luck. Skye smirked and shook her head. “I'll hand deliver them to you,” Steve pressed, grinning. “Just give me an address and a bit of time to find the best french fries and I'm all yours.”

“All yours,” Jack murmured into Skye's ear. She startled, then turned to smack her brother.

“Jackson Herbert, go find something to do you perv.”

“Outside?” Jack asked, grinning. “In town? Around people? Any people.”

“Jack...” Skye sighed.

“I'm bored!” Jack retorted, stomping his foot. Steve chuckled at his hissy fit, making Skye smirk as well.

“That's how I got into the whole picture...thing.” Steve offered.

“It's called a selfie.” Skye laughed.

“Oh!” Steve sighed, putting the pieces together finally. Now Jack asking for a selfie on the plane made sense.

“He's just now figuring that out?” Jack snorted, shaking his head.

“People didn't take _selfies_ in the forties.” Steve replied.

“No, you just had a camera crew following you around.” Jack retorted.

“You're jealous.” Steve retorted childishly. Jack huffed and nodded, crossing his arms.

“Damn straight. Could you imagine what I could do with a camera crew?”

“I'm afraid of what you would do with a camera crew,” Steve replied dryly. Skye nodded her agreement.

“So, tell me what you've been doing. What's new with the world?” Skye asked, changing the subject. She did not want to delve into the camera crew idea.

“What's new with the world?” Steve asked, thinking. Skye nodded, leaning forward expectantly. “The world is pretty much the same as it was nine months ago.” Steve shrugged. “Well, I mean, I guess my view of it has changed. Found out there is a super secret organization working damn hard on a new super soldier serum. Did you guys know about the artificial eyes?”

“Eyes?” Skye asked, frowning. “What do you mean, eyes?”

“The older two groups that we brought in, the guards, all had some sort of mechanism behind their eyes. I forget what Fitz called them. There's a kill switch in it. The guards are all dead.”

“Oh, my God. Are the other kids okay? Did you check them?” Skye asked, flustered. She didn't know about this.

“We checked the other two groups. They're fine. Nothing there that shouldn't be.”

“Promise?” Skye asked, shaken.

“I was there when Fitz scanned them. I trust him to do the job right.” Steve reassured. Skye slumped.

“That's good, at least. Did you hear anything else about the eyes?” Skye asked, clicking away on her computer.

“I don't know anything besides the kill switch.” Steve replied, shaking his head. “Tony could tell you more. Or Agent Fitz with Shield, if you feel like hacking him.”

“I wonder how they knew to activate the switch.” Skye mused. She realized how distracted she was and pushed away from the computer. “Sorry. I'll look later.”

“So what's new with you guys?”

“Nothing.” Jack replied instantly. “Literally, nothing. It's the same freaking thing every day.”

“Jack...” Skye warned.

“Locked away because it's not safe...”

“...Jack. Stop.” Skye repeated, getting up from her chair. Jack scurried away.

“I'd rather have a short, fun life than live like this!” Jack shouted. Steve frowned at the screen, watching Skye shove her brother out of the frame. He felt like an outsider, listening in to their argument. Was it really that bad? He couldn't imagine living in fear like that.

There was faint speaking, but Steve couldn't catch what they were saying. Jack sounded angry and Skye sounded frustrated. He took the opportunity to look at their living situation while they were out of the frame. The walls looked like cinder blocks. It looked like they were in barracks of some sort; standard government housing. There must be a window behind the computer because the light was coming from behind the screen. There wasn't much space, just two beds and whatever computer set up Skye had rigged. Steve wondered how much space was behind the computer.

“Whatcha doing?” Tony asked, leaning on the door frame of Steve's room.

“Tony.” Steve startled. “Ever hear of knocking?”

“Nah. It's my Tower.” Tony grinned. “Now, what are you doing? You left the lab in a hurry.”

“Eh, I was just talking with a friend.” Steve replied shrugging. He hoped Tony would assume it was Trip again, but he didn't want to blatantly lie.

“Well, you're not doing that now, what are you up to?” Tony pressed, smirking. He knew he had caught Steve doing something.

“Um. Watching a movie?” Steve offered, trying to work his innocent face. He knew it wasn't very convincing.

“Oh yeah? I don't hear a movie.” Tony smirked. His entire demeanor screamed satisfaction; he thought he caught Steve doing something embarrassing.

“Sounds down.” Steve muttered.

“Is it porn?” Tony beamed. “Please, tell me it's porn.”

“No, Tony it's not porn.” Steve sighed. He glanced at his computer and saw Skye holding up a piece of paper.

_Pretend to turn your sound back up. We got this_ .

“Here, I'll prove it.” Steve smirked, pretending to turn the volume up on his computer.

“ _You've got to cut back on those Cosmos. Brittany and Tiffany Wilson checking in. Sorry, they're new. Dr. Griffin did an amazing job. Feel so real.”_

“ _I just need a quick credit card and some ID please.”_

“ _Credit card? ID? I'm so freaking pissed. First of all, I got to Dr. Gorfman and he totally messed up my nose job. I asked to look like Gwyneth Paltrow and I get off the surgery table looking like freaking Shrek. Then I get here and Mr. Harper makes me feel like I'm some dumb blonde with fake boobs going to a Hugh Hefner party.”_

“ _I didn't mean to offend you. It's just protocol.”_

“ _I'm going to have a BF.”_

“ _Oh, she's going to have a bitch fit.”_

“ _Please, don't.. don't have a BF, now.”_

“ _I want to speak to your supervisor. Better yet, I'm going to write a letter.”_

“ _Oh, you're in big trouble.”_

“ _Dear Mr. Royal Hampton, I am a white woman in …”_

“ _Ladies, is there a problem?”_

“ _Yes!”_

“ _No, sir. There's no problem.”_

“ _These are two of our VIP guests. Issue them keys immediately.”_

“ _Yes, Sir.”_

“ _VIP, learn your acronyms.”_

“ _What a sweetheart.”_

“ _Enjoy your stay.”_

“ _Has anyone ever told you you look just like Densel Washington?”_

“ _Actually I have heard it once or twice.”_

“ _What a beautiful chocolate man.”_

“ _Beautiful. God.”_

“Heard enough?” Steve asked, cocking his head at Tony. Tony frowned and rolled his eyes.

“You don't need to rub it in or anything.” He muttered.

“Yeah, cause that's not what you were doing? Is it porn? Please, tell me it's porn.” Steve mimicked badly.

“Shut up. I know you're up to something. I'll find out what it is.” Tony retorted. He waved halfheartedly and left Steve's room. Steve waited until he couldn't hear Tony any more.

“Jarvis, is Tony gone?” Steve asked.

“Sir is back on his floor.” Jarvis replied.

“Good.” Steve grinned. He glanced back down at his computer. “That was awesome. Did you guys pull up a clip?”

“Something like that.” Jack grinned.

“You haven't told Tony?” Skye asked, frowning slightly.

“You don't reply to his emails, so I figured you didn't want to talk to him.” Steve shrugged. “I'll admit to being selfish. Nothing we talk about will help anyone. It's just...talking. Company.”

“Sounds like we both need that.” Skye nodded.

“Hey! I'm your company!” Jack frowned.

“You pout all. the. time.” Skye pointed out. 

“Well, if you let me out occasionally...” Jack said back, just as pointedly.

“So what movie is that from?” Steve interrupted, forcing a smile. He hated to hear their bickering.

“White Chicks.” Skye replied, grinning. “Have you seen it?”

“No, never even heard of it.” 

“Oh, man. We've got to watch it.” Jack grinned.

“You probably should know about the movie in case Tony asks.” Skye added.

“Well, I do like to have all my bases covered.” Steve agreed.

“First, Jack, go do a few laps.” Skye ordered.

“You're not going to make out, are you?” Jack groaned.

“Go!” Skye laughed, pointing to something off screen. Skye waited for a beat, then turned back to Steve. “Sorry, sometimes I just need like ten minutes of privacy.”

“How long have you been where ever you are?” Steve asked, smiling softly. He knew what that feeling felt like.

“Too long.” Skye replied, smiling back.

“You going to take me up on my offer?” Steve asked.

“Which one?”

“All of them. One of them? You pick.”

“We're not coming back.” Skye replied, chuckling. “So, I can't take you up on your protection detail. I can't tell you where we are. So, I can't take you up on your french fry offer...”

“I'll throw in ice cream, if that seals the deal.”

“And I haven't decided about Tony's birthday party yet,” Skye finished, continuing like Steve hadn't interrupted her. “Did I miss any offers?”

“Stay with me?” Steve asked softly. It was hard, having her so close...and yet so far. He just wanted to pull her into a hug. He could convince her to stay, if he could convince her to come in the first place. He was sure of it. Skye smiled softly and rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand.

“I want to,” Skye admitted softly - so softly that Steve might not have caught it if his hearing wasn't enhanced. She cleared her throat and said more loudly, “If it was just me, this would be a totally different scenario. As it is, we're going to have to move again soon. Staying in one place, even somewhere like Tony's Tower, is just too big of a risk.”

“You want to?” Steve repeated, smiling shyly. A warm flush was creeping across his cheeks, but he didn't care. She just confirmed that she wanted to be here. His crush wasn't one sided – not that he thought it was, based on that kiss, but it felt good to have it confirmed. Skye giggled softly, smiling just as shyly. Steve sighed heavily, “Then I guess I'll just have to break out Captain America and kick some scientist butt so you can come back.”

“Do you ever cuss?” She grinned, propping her chin up on her fist.

“Not unless you...”

“Damn doesn't count.” Skye interrupted. Steve laughed.

“Then no. I don't cuss.”

“Not even when Tony is being particularly trying?”

“Nah. Once, on a mission, I accidentally called him out on his language. He still hasn't let me live it down.” 

“Accidentally?” Skye laughed. “How do you accidentally do that?”

“He was in his suit and said..something. I don't remember. I was fighting and it just kind of slipped out...”

“Language!” Skye barked, then burst into giggles.

“Yeah. Pretty much.” Steve nodded, grinning at her laughter. 

“Oh, you poor old man.”

“I'm not that old.” 

“You're practically a hundred.” Skye retorted, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but I haven't lived that long.” 

“That's true. But...if someone is in a coma and they're not doing anything...do those people still age?”

“Yes, they physically get older. I didn't.” Steve stuck his tongue out, knowing it would make her laugh. He grinned when she did.

“So, how old do you feel?” Skye asked, smiling.

“I don't know. Twenties?” Steve shrugged. “How about you? How old do you feel?”

“Depends on the day.” Skye retorted. “Right now I feel like a blushing teenager.” Steve heard a door and assumed Jack was back. He was proven right when moments later music came blasting from behind the computer and Jack started dancing provocatively behind Skye. Steve tried to hide his grin behind his hand when Skye sighed. “Right now?” Skye whispered. “Right now that number is more like fifty.”

“I'll stop when we watch that movie!” Jack shouted over the music.

“Save me.” Skye mouthed, then grinned and toyed with her computer. “All right, you should have the movie on your desktop. Let me know when you're ready.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stuff in italics is quoting from the movie White Chicks. It's not 100% accurate - I just listened to a youtube clip of the scene. I hope it made sense.


	14. Life's Not Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit hits the fan.

 

 

“I'm going to go for a run,” Skye sighed, closing her laptop in frustration. The screen shot of Steve laughing, taken during their video chat, wasn't even enough to pull her from her funk. It had been two weeks and Shield had yet to figure out how to deprogram Group Tau. Jack could do it in a heartbeat, but that meant exposing him. She couldn't do that. It was selfish of her, because Jack would revel in it. Delight in being around actual other people. But he was more important to her than some kids she never met. She knew she had been strict with him, but she had loosened her reins a little in the past few weeks. She was lonely too, okay? (Shut up).

“Don't pick up any cute guys this time,” Jack replied from his bunk.

Skye supposed there was a joke hidden in there, but Jack's tone was anything but joking. He was bored out of his mind, she knew that. Even with emailing Steve a few times a day and their video chat the day before, he couldn't instill any humor in his words. Skye didn't reply, just tugged her shoes on and slipped out of their bunker. They hadn't been found yet, but _they_ were poking. They would have to pull up stakes and run again. Soon. But they had a few days; _they_ weren't that close. How they kept finding them was beyond her; she knew she hid them well. This time especially. Skye had been researching their next destination, trying to find a place where they could be as comfortable as they had been in New York.

Then again, that hadn't lasted very long. Getting comfortable was a risk. Getting attached was a risk. Steve was a risk. A beautiful disaster of a risk. The disaster part applied to her, obviously. That man was incapable of being a disaster. If they went to the birthday dinner, she could see Steve. She felt the smile on her face when she considered that option. She hadn't wanted anything for herself in a long time; Jack always came first. She wasn't complaining – it was her choice...but sometimes she allowed herself to day dream about what her life would be like if they didn't have to be on the run, always moving.

If things were different, she wouldn't have to keep ignoring Steve's offers. Not that she would move in or anything, she was far too independent for that, but she could be close. She could make friends – friends that she was actually allowed to see and interact with. She missed her friends.

God, she couldn't believe she was actually considering attending a surprise birthday dinner for Tony next week, location of her choice. She hadn't told Jack; she didn't want to get his hopes up if she decided they couldn't go.

Besides, his face would totally be worth it when they drove away from the bunker. If she could time it right, maybe it would be the perfect excuse to get Jack from the bunker without raising his suspicions. They were going to have to leave soon anyway, but he didn't have to know why. Despite the exterior he projected, Jack was fragile. She would protect him; she could shoulder the weight for both of them. Ignorance was bliss.

She smiled slightly, liking her plan. She would get to leave the bunker behind, see her friends, see _Steve_ , and keep Jack safe at the same time. It was a win-win. Assuming it all worked out seamlessly like she hoped it would.

Skye was so focused on her thoughts that she didn't realize she was being followed until it was too late. She felt something sharp stab her shoulder, just as she whipped around to attack. There was no one there. They had gotten her from a distance. Skye reached back and pulled the dart from her back.

Shit.

Jack.

He wouldn't be safe with her anymore.

There went her perfect plan.

Fuck.

She couldn't leave him; if they were close enough to get her with a dart, they damn well knew about the bunker. She would have to stay, but she could send him away. She could still make sure he was safe.

He had to be safe.

He was going to see Steve.

It wasn't fair.

She took a deep breath, trying not to cry at the injustice of it all.

Life isn't fair, she reminded herself.

She could do this. For Jack, she could do this.

Skye ran back to their bunker, glad for her resistance to sedation. She probably had ten more minutes before it could take over her system. She just had to calm herself down. Her racing heart was just pumping the drug through her faster.

“You're back fast,” Jack muttered, still pouting.

“Tony emailed me,” Skye replied, working to look calm and collected. She felt tears burning behind her eyes; it was colossally unfair. They were supposed to be safe here. She pulled her phone out to pretend like she had gotten the email on her run.

“Oh yeah?” Jack asked, sitting up. Finally, something interesting.

“Yeah. He's begging for help with the kids...and I can't stand your pouty face any more.” Skye replied, grinning. She wasn't sure it was convincing, but Jack was too distracted to notice.

“I can go?” Jack gasped, jumping up in excitement.

“Yeah, but you have to go quick. Don't want to keep Tony waiting,” Skye nodded, collecting a few things he would need. She wanted to give him her laptop, her precious laptop, but she knew that would raise too many red flags. Jack would only overlook so many things in his excitement. She packed them into a bag, then turned to face Jack. He already had a bag thrown over his shoulder and he was sporting the first grin she had seen from him in a while. “Okay, here's the deal. Go to location G. Plug this into the computer. If you feel like you're being followed, plug it in early.” Skye handed Jack a flash drive. “He'll be watching and will pick you up. Take the van. Standard procedures, just in case, okay?”

“Got it!” Jack grinned, bouncing in place.

“Get going,” Skye replied, struggling to stay up right. Ten minutes was a good estimate.

“You're not coming?” Jack asked, pocketing the flash drive.

“I love you,” Skye told him with a grin. It fell slightly, so she took a breath and pulled Jack in for a hug. “God, I love you. But I need a break from you.”

Skye laughed, forcing a joke at the end so he wouldn't be suspicious of her affection. She kissed his forehead and rested her forehead on his before shoving him towards the door.

“Don't keep him waiting.”

“When will I see you?” Jack asked, undoing the locks on the bunker door.

“Tony's birthday is next week,” Skye replied. “Stay with them, okay?”

“Okay, see you soon,” Jack replied, grinning. Skye took a mental picture of his happy face. She liked that she could remember him like that. Now, she had to focus. There were a few things she needed to do before this drug overtook her.

 

 


	15. The Flash Drive Activates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers respond to the flash drive activating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a super short chapter, but I'll post another one soon!

 

 

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Fuck-fuckity,” Tony yelled, running through the common room with his suit flying to attach to him. Clint laughed at his cussing, not seeing the suit because Tasha had him pinned to the floor.

“Language!” Clint teased.

“Do we need to be concerned?” Steve asked, barely glancing up from his book.

“The flash drive activated!” Tony yelled from the hall.

They were all on their feet in a heartbeat, knowing exactly what Tony meant. They sprinted off in different directions, rushing into their gear.

“Roof,” Tony shouted, running for the elevator. His Iron Man suit finally finished assembling around him. The team met him on the roof a few minutes later. The jet was already prepped to take off, so Clint slid into the pilot's seat and got them off the ground.

“What happened?” Steve asked, holding onto a strap for balance.

“I don't know. I didn't program a messaging system into it. But she wouldn't use it except for an emergency.”

“Maybe Jack plugged it in on accident,” Tasha said reasonably, even though there was fear on her face too. Fear for the two kids that had wormed their way into all of their hearts.

“Yeah. Maybe.” Steve agreed, eager to believe what he knew wasn't possible. Jack might be reckless, but he wasn't stupid. Either way, Steve would do everything in his power to protect them. Protect them both.

Part of him was secretly happy. Even if they were in danger, and he truly hoped they weren't, he finally had a chance to _do_ something. No more sitting around trying to solve a problem he knew nothing about. This is what he was good at - taking out the bullies. He was excited and anxious about what they were rushing into. They didn't normally do things blind, not like this. They literally had no idea what to expect - except that it would be bad. Skye wouldn't use that flash drive otherwise. 

Maybe this would help prove to Skye that he could take care of her. Even if people were after them, attacking them maybe - Steve's gut twisted suddenly at that thought - he would protect her. He would prove he deserved the chance to take care of her.

Twenty minutes later, Clint was landing the plane next to a pale blue van. The van was parked next to an abandoned gas station, leaving plenty of room for the jet to land. The second the back hatch was open, Tony and Steve burst out of the jet.

Steve took in his surroundings as they ran towards the van. There was nothing around but a falling down building. The mostly dead field across from the parking lot was cropped short, so no one was hiding in the grass. The building was too decrepit to hide in. For the life of him, Steve couldn't figure out where the threat was coming from. Why had they activated the flash drive?

 

Tony banged on the van, leaving dents in the door.

“What's the password?” Jack's laughing voice rang out. Tasha smirked, glad that she was right.

“Open the damn door,” Tony replied, feeling upset that they had assembled for a joke...but also unreasonably relieved that they were safe.

“For someone begging for help, you don't sound very beggy.” Jack laughed, opening the door. “Oh, you're in trouble. Just wait til Skye sees what you did to her precious van.”

“Wait, where is Skye?” Steve asked, a deep frown on his face. Something wasn't right. He was supposed to get to see Skye now. She was supposed to see him in action and feel safe enough to come back with them. Damn it all to hell.

“I didn't beg for help?” Tony added, lifting his face plate.

“What happened?” Clint asked, rushing to catch up.

“She's in our b...” Jack made a face. “Can't tell you guys, secret. She's fine. She said you needed help deprogramming the kids and that she needed a break from me. My pouting has probably gotten out of hand.”

“I didn't ask for help.” Tony groaned.

“She's fine,” Jack laughed, rolling his eyes. “She went for a run, but came back when you emailed. She said you needed help right away. She practically shoved me out the door.”

“Take us to her, now.” Steve said firmly, dragging Jack from the van. “Is she nearby or do we fly?”

“I drove for forty minutes,” Jack answered, then yelped as Steve dragged him towards the plane. He was starting to get a pit of worry in his stomach. If Tony hadn't asked for help, why did Skye send him away?

 


	16. It Should Have Been Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack takes the Avengers back to their bunker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm loving the reviews on this story! Thank you for your support.

 

 

“Land there,” Jack muttered, pointing to an open area. “We'll have to walk a bit, but I need the landmarks.”

“You got it,” Clint replied, landing the plane in a small opening in the woods. Jack hadn't been kidding when he said he was bored out of his mind. They were literally in the middle of no where. They exited the plane, taking the forest in.

“This is not what I expected.” Tasha said, cocking her head. “There's nothing here.”

“I know, right?” Jack grunted. “This way.”

Jack led the Avengers, picking his way daintily through the woods. Steve was frustrated with the pace, but knew he couldn't find the spot on his own. After only a few minutes, Jack lead them to a bunker door. The keypad was blown off, dangling uselessly by a wire. The bunker doors were open already.

“You've got to be kidding me.” Tony muttered, flipping his face plate into place. “This is where you've been staying?”

He went in first, followed closely by Steve. Clint climbed quickly to the top of the bunker, using the elevation to get a good look at their surroundings.

“Fuck.” Steve groaned. From the entrance to the bunker, Tasha, Clint and Jack glanced at each other then rushed inside. Steve never cussed.

“Language,” Tony muttered, teasing halfheartedly. He wasn't sure how to cope with the destruction around him.

“Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no.” Jack cried, rushing around the destroyed bunker. Skye's prize computer was smashed on the floor. Every other bit of technology destroyed just as thoroughly. They had been looking for something, judging by the state of the bunker. Jack rushed to his bunk and pushed it aside with alarming force. The far end of the bed splintered against the wall. Just beyond his headboard, he wiggled a brick loose and shook it over his hand. A few things fell out – several flash drives, a small dart, and a note.

 

_**This has never been an all or nothing deal. You're the last now. Be safe. I love you. S** _

 

Jack sat down hard. It took only a moment for her words to sink in and for him to break down. Over the sound of Jack's sobs, Steve fingered the dart that had been in the brick.

“She knew they were coming.” Steve muttered, holding the dart up for Clint to see. “Why didn't she get out with him?”

“All or nothing deal?” Tasha asked, glancing the note over. Jack heaved suddenly, rushing from the room. He was sick into the toilet, judging by the sounds.

“I got him,” Steve informed them, waving Tasha away. Tony took the dart from him, storing it in his suit.

“She's got cameras,” Tony said firmly, trying to stay focused. He was battling anger and fear and worry, but right now those wouldn't help him. They needed to find her, quickly. “We need to find where she stored them.”

The three heroes picked through the rubble, trying to find salvageable computer parts. Everything was completely shattered. Even Tony wouldn't be able to piece them back together.

“Her system is backed up over here,” Jack offered shakily, finally coming out of the small bathroom. He pushed on two separate bricks, which swung open and revealed her backup system.

“We can watch this on the jet,” Tony said firmly. There was nothing here that would help them, and the jet was close. Maybe they could still get her. She couldn't have been gone long.

“Wait, I need...” Jack trailed off, spinning on his heel to head back into the bathroom. He carefully took the toilet apart, revealing a carefully hidden refrigeration system. He pulled a bag from the tank, handling it with care.

“What is that?” Steve asked, cocking his head. It _looked_ like a bag of blood. But he had no idea why they would have a bag of blood hiding in the tank of a toilet.

“Um...my medicine?” Jack offered hesitantly. Tony peeked under Steve's arm.

“Looks like blood, kid.”

“It's complicated. I'll explain later.”

“We're wasting time,” Steve agreed.

They hurried to the jet, with Jack being carried by Steve. He didn't even joke about being in Steve's arms. Tony plugged the drive into the jet's system, then hurried to find the security feed and rewind it.

“Want that in the fridge?” Tony asked, nodding to the bag Jack still clutched.

“That would probably be for the best. I don't need it yet.” Jack replied, nodding.

“You're going to explain this to me later.” Tony told Jack, taking the bag off him and placing it within the fridge. “Better yet, you're explaining this to Bruce.”

“Only you would have a fridge on your jet,” Steve muttered, standing near the computer Skye's drive was hooked into. Tony huffed impatiently when the drive was locked.

“Really, I don't know why you expected otherwise,” Tasha sighed. Jack smiled sadly and elbowed Tony aside so he could get past Skye's safe guards.

“That's her, leaving for her run.” Jack pointed out. Twenty minutes later, she burst back into the bunker. Jack didn't even look up from the book he was reading on his bunk. “I made the comment that she was back soon. She said you emailed and needed help, but I had to go right away.” Jack provided commentary for the video. Either audio wasn't recorded or it had been damaged. “God, look how happy I was.”

“She's hiding her worry well,” Tony replied offhandedly. “That smile looks very sincere. You had no reason to think anything had happened.”

“She told me to leave, then plug in the flash drive and you would get me,” Jack continued. Skye handed him the bag and flash drive on the screen. Steve caught the slight buckle of her knee.

“She got shot with the dart on the run,” Steve muttered, pointing out how unsteady she was to the others. When she turned her back to the camera, a small red dot of blood could be seen on her shirt. “Why didn't she pass out sooner?”

“She's...different.” Jack cried, wiping tears from his cheeks. Skye was hugging him on screen. “Things never work on her like they should.”

“She was saying good-bye,” Steve whispered, freezing the screen on the image of Skye and Jack. His face was in her hands, their foreheads pressed together. If Skye hadn't erased the Tower's video, he would have a similar shot with her.

“I should have known. She knew you guys would come for me – that's what the flash drive was for. She wouldn't have turned down the chance to see Steve.”

“How long ago did they come for her?” Tasha asked. Her hands were curled into fists. Tony glanced at Steve, but hit play on the video.

Jack left and Skye immediately dropped her act. Worry was clear on her face. She scribbled the note and retrieved the flash drive from a secret compartment in her laptop. She struggled with Jack's bed, which forced a pained moan from Jack, but hid the items in the brick. She pushed the bed back into place with shaking hands. Steve could barely look as they watched fear overcome her features. Her body started shaking and her breath came quick. She hung her head between her knees, forcing herself to take deep breaths. She glanced up at the door, then she got up from the bunk and paced, shaking her hands out. She opened her laptop and typed quickly. She hesitated, running a finger down the screen. For a second, Steve thought she was going to cry. Instead, she pressed her lips to her fingers then pressed them to the screen. Skye closed the lid carefully, caressing her baby. She kissed it then grabbed it and hurled it at the ground, breaking it into a thousand pieces. She pulled items Steve couldn't identify from her desk and broke those as well.

Suddenly, her head whipped towards the door and all signs of fear vanished. She stood in plain sight, her head held up proudly. Eight men in full tactical gear came in and surrounded her, pointing their guns at her, but she still stared at the door. Skye looked like she was talking, her mouth curling into a satisfied smirk. The angle was wrong on the video, so they couldn't see whoever she was talking to. A man stepped forward with a syringe and Skye flew into action. Tasha silently pointed out the partial orange spine on the man's neck. These were Super Guards. Skye attacked the guards that surrounded her, taking out over half of them before they over powered her. The guard with the syringe stepped forward and injected her in the neck.

“Holy shit,” Clint breathed.

“I could barely manage one,” Steve muttered. “And we had the tech from Fitzsimmons.”

“Now I know why she didn't want my combat lessons.” Tasha agreed. She reached over and rewound the tape, watching Skye's movements.

“She should have been able to manage all of them.” Jack muttered. Clint was the only one that blinked at that.

The time stamp showed nearly two hours had passed since she fell. A super guard picked her limp body up and hauled her from the bunker. The other guards helped the downed guards from the bunker, and then they were gone.

“She's gone.” Jack sobbed, breaking down once again. “I can't do this alone. She should have let them take me too.”

“You're not doing this alone,” Steve reassured softly.

“They only have two hours on us,” Tony offered, searching the drive for more footage. The footage from outside was cut before anyone came on screen, so that was useless. But there had to be a way to find her.

“They could have a five minute head start and we wouldn't find them,” Jack dismissed. His breathing was beginning to get labored and his face was pale.

“We will find her,” Steve said firmly. Stubbornly.

“We never could find them,” Jack sobbed, collapsing onto the floor. Steve sat down next to him, pulling him into a hug. “I can't be the last.”

“The last what?” Tasha asked softly, sitting down on the Jack's opposite side. He shook his head rapidly, denying her an answer.

“Jarvis, start hacking satellite feeds,” Tony told the AI in his suit. “I want to know where these assholes went.”

“Right away, Sir.” Jarvis responded.

“You've looked for them?” Steve asked, furrowing his brow. Jack nodded.

Jack took a deep breath, trying to force calm on himself. “There were more of us. Skye and I are the last. She's the only reason I've lasted this long. She's always been protective of me; I was the youngest...and I haven't always been grateful.”

“Things are worse for the youngest,” Steve muttered. Jack blinked quickly, nodding faintly.

“So they've been hunting you down?” Tony asked bluntly. He shrugged off the look Steve gave him.

“We always tried to track them. Follow at a distance. I can show you the air space they like to use, tell you the radio frequencies that get the most action...hell, I can even tell you which people like to work together and which should be on opposite teams. Still, even Skye couldn't get anything beyond that, so I doubt you can.” Jack paused, considering his next words. He glanced at Steve. “I thought it was over. I thought we would be the last. She took all the children we knew about. I didn't think they could recover from that.

But then we saw the children being taken to the compound... Skye was so scared. It's been so long...and we missed so much. We didn't know about the other groups of kids until you guys went in. Skye was...Oh, God...that's when Skye realized how much better they've gotten. They put out a hit on us, on me. She moved us to the bunker after that. She sacrificed our comfort for my safety. Not that it was amazing before that; nothing could beat New York. But you should have seen her face when she realized they had taken those five kids...Five isn't enough for a group; we thought we caught them early enough.”

Steve glanced at Tasha, frowning while trying to catch all of Jack's words. It sounded like he was rambling to keep from crying.

Steve wasn't sure he could talk right now. His gut was twisted into a solid knot and something had lodged in his throat. Skye was gone. And she had gone down alone and afraid. She hid it from whoever took her, but she was terrified of either the people or of what was going to happen to her. What was going to happen to her? Steve blinked and looked down, hiding the extra moisture in his eyes.

“How long were you in that bunker, kid?” Clint asked, crouching by the crying man.

“5 months.” Jack muttered.

“You knew for five months that they were still operating?” Tony asked.

“We knew they were operating...but we didn't know about the kids. Not until those 5 disappeared; even then, we thought they were the only five. We would have told you sooner, if we had known. We thought they were just tinkering with the formula.”

“I still don't understand the all or nothing deal,” Tasha said softly.

“I always told Skye that if we got taken, we were getting taken together. All or nothing. She always hated that. Hated that I would give myself up so I could stay with her...but she's my sister. I mean she's not, obviously, but for all intensive purposes. I don't know who I am without her.” Jack sobbed, breaking down again. “The hit was for me, but she let them take her instead. This is my fault. It should have been me.”

“Clint, get us back to the Tower.” Tony said softly, aware he was breaking a moment. “I need my whole system to find her.”

“You got it,” Clint replied, leaving Jack in their care. Jack leaned into Steve's side and rested his head on Steve's shoulder.

“What group were you in?” Steve asked softly, after the silence in the jet became unbearable. Jack shook his head again, not wanting to answer. “What year were you taken? Come on Jack, a little more information won't change anything.”

“Yes, it will.” Jack whispered, hugging himself.

“She's Delta.” Tasha stated.

“No, she's not.” Jack denied, shaking his head.

Steve was surprised at how those three words convinced him so entirely. They had never lied before. They might change the subject or evade the question, but they never outright lied. There was no loophole in Jack's response.

“You're not just saying that?” Tasha asked, settling down opposite them.

“She's not.” Jack said firmly.

“What about you?” Tasha pressed gently.

“I just want to find her.” Jack whispered.

“We're going to find her,” Steve murmured.

“Jack, you're not answering me.” Tasha pointed out. He smirked a little bit. “So _you're_ Delta. Is that why the hit was out on you?”

“Did you even do your homework? Do you know how long ago Delta was?”

“You're not on the hard drive.” Steve pointed out. “Delta was the only group missing.”

“That you know of...” Jack muttered. "Skye got to that drive before you did."

“I need more, if we're going to find her.” Tasha interjected.

Jack whispered into Steve's shoulder, “By keeping it a secret, she's kept us safe.”

“But she's not safe,” Tony interrupted. “They have her, and any information you have that can help would be really fucking helpful right about now.”

“She's not Delta, so that file won't help us find her!” Jack shouted back.

“What are they going to do to her?” Steve asked, wrapping his arm around the distraught man.

“Trust me when I say you really don't want to know.”

 


	17. Stupidest Thing I've Ever Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers bring Jack back to the Tower. Steve takes Jack under his wing.

 

“This may help,” Jack said slowly, extending a flash drive towards Tony. He had pulled himself together since getting off the jet. He seemed to realize how much the Avengers were putting into locating his sister and his outlook was a little brighter. He would help them in any way he could. He figured he had 24 to 48 hours before all hope was lost.

“What is it?” Tony asked, taking it and plugging it into his computer. “Group Delta?”

“I told you that wouldn't help. No, it's the faces of the team after us.” Jack winced.

“Their faces?” Clint asked, rocketing forward. He had been slouching back with Tasha.

“When we knew they were close, and Skye always did, we'd leave a motion activated camera behind. The full video is on there, but I've pulled stills as well. I don't think its going to get you anywhere, but I need to contribute something.”

“Is this how you know so much about them?” Steve asked, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack slumped back into his contact.

“They got better, smarter, after a while. They knew to look for the cameras. But we already had a good feel for their group dynamics. I tried to build a tracer in aerosol form, but could never perfect it. Didn't have the right resources. We did make a small bomb once, that was laced with small trackers. We weren't discrete enough though – once they got to the air strip, they changed clothes and everyone was submerged in water. After a while we realized it didn't really matter. We didn't think there were any other groups. We were _really_ confident there weren't any other groups. I didn't want to go back and we... _she_... was skilled enough to evade them. So we dropped it. Stupid.”

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“I'll show you to the guest room,” Pepper offered to Jack, watching him struggle to keep his eyes open. Steve caught Jack's panicked expression.

“I've got him,” Steve interjected, stepping up next to Jack. Jack looped his arm through Steve's. He didn't look the faintest bit uncomfortable with the action. He had always been pretty good at reading what people needed, and right now Jack needed to not be alone. Steve lead Jack to the elevator and the two men got in silently. Jack was clearly exhausted. It had been a draining day. Tony was still in his lab, trying to find Skye and the team that had taken her through his facial recognition and satellite feeds. He was also looking for the mark Centipede put out on Jack, hoping to track it back to whoever posted it or whoever took the job. Steve couldn't help him with that, and he could tell Tony needed some time alone to come to terms with what had happened. Jack's certainty that Skye was lost settled heavily on them all.

“Jarvis, take us to my floor please.” Steve told the AI. Jack glanced up at him with a frown. “I've got spare rooms. I'd rather have you close.” Steve lied, knowing Jack wasn't ready to admit to that weakness...not yet. Jack smiled slightly in response. Steve waited for some back handed remark, but Jack was silent. That spoke volumes. Steve showed Jack around the floor quickly, giving him some spare clothes to sleep in.

“Thanks,” Jack mumbled, hiding a yawn.

“No problem,” Steve replied, shrugging. He was turning to leave the guest room when Jack caught him up in a hug.

“No, really. Thank you.” Jack insisted. Steve returned the hug, smelling a bit of Skye on Jack's clothes.

“You're welcome.” Steve replied sincerely. He knew what it felt like to lose someone important to you. He still dreamed of Bucky – except sometimes he was fast enough to catch him before he fell. Steve forced those thoughts back. Bucky was gone. Skye was gone. He was alone. Again. “I'll be right through here if you need anything.”

“Night, Stevie.” Jack said, trying for a smile.

“Sleep tight...you.” Steve replied, failing to come up with a nick name. Jack laughed at his expression and headed to bed.

“That needs some work, Captain.”

“Shut up, you.”

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

Steve slumped onto his bed after his shower, utterly drained. He hadn't eaten much that afternoon, but his stomach was so twisted that it didn't matter. Out of habit, he checked his phone for emails before settling in bed. To his surprise, there was a new one in his inbox – from Skye. He hadn't heard the message tone go off, but then he saw his phone had accidentally gotten switched to vibrate mode. He swallowed hard and opened the email.

 

**Hey Face Plant,**

**I'm sending Jack to you guys. He needs a break from all of this and those kids need his help. Please, keep him safe. You offered before, and I know it's a little late (and totally selfish) now, but I need you to not back out of that offer. There will be people after him – keep him safe for me? He's special. The most important thing.**

**I gave him a bag with supplies – he should be able to manage from those for a while. Please, make sure he takes his medicine – he knows where it is. He hates vegetables, so make sure he eats them. No strawberries though – he's allergic. He'll be an absolute bear in the mornings if he doesn't stay on his routine, so it's in your best interest to keep to it. Sleep medicine won't work so when he can't sleep, try music from the seventies – it will calm him down. He acts big and tough, but he's more sensitive than he appears. The more over the top he's being, the more something is bothering him.**

**I'm overdue for a pretty important meeting, so I need to go. It's kind of top secret, G14 Classified, so I'll be radio silent for a while. I'm begging you – Please, take care of my little brother.**

**Thinking of you,**

**Skye**

 

Steve took a jagged breath and exhaled slowly, withholding his tears by sheer will power. She sounded like a mom sending her son off to camp. Jack had said it, and Steve agreed – He wouldn't have made it long without Skye. She mothered him. She sacrificed herself for him. _Why did they want Jack so bad_?

He forwarded the email to Tony, then put his phone away. He needed to at least try to sleep.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

Steve hadn't expected Jack to sleep through the night. Steve couldn't even manage to fall asleep. Steve could hear Jack's harsh breathing through the apartment and knew he was having a nightmare. He was about to go wake him up when he heard Jack get out of bed. Within a minute, Jack was standing in Steve's doorway. Steve didn't say anything, just flipped his covers back. Jack came hesitantly, not expecting Steve to react that way.

“It's okay.” Steve murmured. “I wasn't sleeping anyway.”

“They wanted me.” Jack replied softly, slipping into the bed. “She was in the way, but they wanted me.”

“Wanna see your video?” Steve offered, not knowing what to say in response to his confession. Jack nodded, but Steve couldn't tell what his expression was because of the dark. Steve sat up and pulled his laptop from his night stand. He settled the machine between their bodies and opened the attachment. Skye hadn't tried to delete his copy of the video, so it was still sitting in his inbox. Steve wordlessly opened the video and hit play.

Jack did something with the video, looping it so it played over and over. Jack and Steve fell asleep to Skye's laughter.

 

 _This may be the stupidest thing I've ever done_.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, I have no self control. I keep telling myself only three updates a week, but then justify posting more often because these chapters have been kinda short.


	18. Is this your source?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack visits Shield to deprogram the Group Tau.

 

Steve took Jack to Shield headquarters the next day. They both needed to stay busy and Group Tau needed to be deprogrammed. They weren't much help right now anyway – they couldn't offer any help until Tony had a lead. Any sort of lead.

Tony had dealt with their useless loitering for all of twenty minutes before kicking them both out of his lab. Short of wandering the woods where the bunker was, hoping to find some tiny clue, they were useless. 

They stopped by the front desk, needing a guest pass for Jack.

“He's with me,” Steve told the lady behind the desk tightly. They had been there for a few minutes already, and she wouldn't look up from her computer to recognize who was talking. It annoyed Steve to realize he was counting on her knowing him and just creating the pass.

“Yeah, I'm _with him_ ,” Jack grinned, murmuring the words seductively. The lady looked up at that. She realized who was asking for a pass and quickly printed one off, her face bright red with embarrassment.

“I'm so sorry, Captain.” She mumbled, handing Jack the pass with shaking fingers. “I didn't realize...I didn't know you were...uh...”

Steve walked away without saying anything. He knew it was rude, but he wasn't feeling particularly polite at the moment. Jack hurried to catch up, looping his arm through Steve's.

“Can we go see the guy from the plane?” Jack asked in a whisper, leaning against Steve's shoulder as they walked the corridor. They were getting looks, but Steve couldn't care less. He was glad to have Jack with him, even if it meant everyone at Shield now thought he had a boyfriend. For the first time in a long time, Steve had someone to be there for him. He would rather it was Skye, and he suspected Jack felt the same, but they were satisfied with each others company.

“So you can make a bunch of jokes about being my boyfriend?” Steve asked, deadpan.

“What?” Jack asked, pretending to be surprised. A hand flew to cover his mouth. “I would never.”

“Liar,” Steve smiled. “I know you told him you were my boyfriend on the plane. But yes, we can see him. Need to, actually. I'm not sure where they're keeping the kids now. They've been moving them around, if I understand correctly.”

“What's his name?” Jack asked, grinning.

“Agent Coulson. Phil Coulson.” Steve replied instantly.

“Does he know about me? About us?” Jack asked softly.

“He knows we were looking for you. Beyond that, not really.” Steve shook his head. He steered Jack to the right, taking a side corridor to Coulson's office – which happened to be located on their plane. Coulson wasn't around often enough to merit his own desk. Then again, he was supposed to be dead. Only a few knew he was still alive. Ward met them at the ramp to the plane, frowning when he saw the civilian. He unwrapped his hands, tucking the wraps away before wiping his hands free of sweat.

“Captain.” Ward offered, shaking Steve's offered hand.

“Agent Ward.” Steve replied, his Captain America face on. It typically was around agents. “This is Jack. He's going to help us with Group Tau. Is Coulson around?”

“Jack, huh?” Ward replied, shaking Jack's hand. He frowned at the limp limb, drawing conclusions about the man. Jack slipped his arm through Steve's and rested his head on his shoulder.

“It's so nice to meet you,” Jack replied, his voice a little too fabulous to pass for normal. He winked at Ward, making the stern agent blush. He turned wide eyed to Steve.

“Your source?” He guessed.

“With benefits,” Jack added in a husky whisper. When he had Ward's eye again, he winked and bit his lip. “I could add you to my _benefits_ list, if you'd like.”

“Coulson should be in his office,” Ward said quickly, stepping back. “You remember where that is, right Captain?”

“I do.” Steve replied, hiding his smile until they were well past Ward. Jack had gone out of his way to make Ward uncomfortable. “You little flirt. I thought you were _my_ boyfriend.”

“Well, we never had that conversation about being exclusive, now did we sweetie?” Jack replied, fluttering his eyelashes. May blocked their way, clearing her throat to get their attention.

“You have to have a conversation about that?!” Steve asked, looking shocked.

“No civilians on my plane.” May said firmly.

“Civilian? What? Where!” Jack gasped, looking around the small space. “Oh, no!”

“Relax, he's with me.” Steve offered, trying to sidestep her. She moved to block his path.

“What's he doing here?” May asked, her characteristic frown in place.

“Just taking a look around Stevie's work,” Jack replied, grinning up at the man. “He's just so impressive. In every way...if you catch my drift.”

Jack glanced down at Steve's midsection and then winked up at May. She huffed and crossed her arms.

“Oh, I see. You're a Thor girl.”

“His arms are dreamy,” May admitted, finally cracking a small smile.

“That they are.” Jack sighed.

“Can we see Coulson now?” Steve asked pointedly.

“Captain. I thought I heard your voice.” The man himself replied.

“You would hear his voice through several walls,” May retorted softly. Jack grinned and wiggled with excitement against Steve's side. He liked May.

“He did watch him sleep, again...” Jack laughed.

“He probably ran down here...” May added, smirking.

“Are you the source?” Coulson asked, putting the pieces together quickly.

“The Source?” Jack replied, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “As far as nicknames go, it needs some work. What about _Knower of All Things Tau_? Nah, that's too specific. How about, _The Great and Powerful Jack_? Hmm, yeah. I like that one. Let's go with that.”

“Is this the man that was texting me?” Coulson asked, raising his eyebrow at Steve.

“I think he's trying to politely ask if I'm your boyfriend,” Jack told Steve, twirling the end of his scarf in his face. Steve smirked and swatted the scarf away.

“I don't know. Are you? Apparently, we haven't had that conversation yet.” Steve replied, throwing Jack's words back at him. Jack grinned briefly. “I don't know how I feel about you hitting on everything that moves.”

“Ah! I'm hurt! I haven't hit on May,” Jack replied, faking a frown. His free hand made its way to his cocked hip, his stance helping project his defensive words.

“She's a woman.” Steve replied dryly. Jack grinned.

“A very beautiful woman,” Jack laughed, grinning at May. “Though, I will admit...Ward's ass is magnificent.”

“Sir.” Ward sighed, walking into the area right as Jack commented on his derriere. “Fitz needs your approval for materials.”

Steve had to glance down to hide his smirk. He didn't know if Jack heard Ward coming or if the timing was just that lucky, but it was perfect. The exasperated expression on Ward's face, combined with the slight blush, was enough to break Steve's composure.

“Remind me to hack that face for Mr. Barton,” Jack whispered, nodding discretely towards Ward. Steve bit his lip to keep his laughter in and nodded. Clint would appreciate Jack's efforts.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“Stay here?” Jack asked, once Steve and he had stepped in the door to Group Chi and Upsilon. “Just until I've talked with them?”

“Sure thing.” Steve agreed, leaning back on the door. He wasn't sure why Jack wanted to see Chi and Upsilon, not Group Tau, but he trusted the man enough to go with it. The children eyed Jack warily. The children clumped together in front of Jack, the biggest kids in front. Jack said something in the mash up language and a few kids slumped. The boy that had taken control of Group Upsilon on the plane said something back, his arms crossed defiantly. Jack sighed and removed his watch, speaking quickly as he did. He flashed the kids his wrist. The entire group simultaneously relaxed their stressed postures and got excited.

Steve silently committed that to memory; Jack had a tattoo like the kids. Did Skye have a tattoo hiding under her watch? Jack put his watch back on and said something, waving his hand back towards Steve. Steven waved excitedly from the edge of the pack. Steve smiled and waved back.

“Alright, let's not make my boyfriend too uncomfortable,” Jack grinned, switching to English.

“Jack,” Steve called out warningly. The kids laughed at his tone.

“I'm going to break Tau's programming,” Jack explained to the kids, “But I need to spend some time with you first. Go back to whatever you were doing.”

The kids dispersed; some ran the edge of the room, some did pull ups on makeshift bars between bunks, and some started sparring. Steve slipped from the room to find someone who could tell him why the kids didn't have any other forms of entertainment. They were in a different room than last time – the bean bags and projector were gone. When he came back, Jack and the kids were...dancing? There was music playing and the kids were moving to it, but they looked more like gymnasts than dancers. They were flipping and twisting in the air, grinning and laughing.

“There you are!” Jack called out, beckoning to Steve. “Come dance with us.”

“This isn't dancing.” Steve replied, shaking his head. “This is a circus act.”

“We never got to do it for fun before!” Steven grinned, his cheeks flushed. He ran towards Steve, switching from a cartwheel to a back flip, landing right in front of Steve.

“Nice control,” Steve smiled, taking a step back when Steven made no move to.

“Had to learn control,” He shrugged, glancing down. Steve could hear what he wasn't saying. He had to learn control, or be punished. Kids were quick learners anyway, but with motivation like that...it was no surprise the children were this good.

“Well, you're very good.” Steve smiled again. The boy grinned up at him.

“If you're impressed by us, you should have seen 47.”

“Hey!” Jack shouted, then added something in the mash up. Steven clamped his mouth shut and let a few children pull him away from Steve.

“You're awfully protective of him,” Steve muttered quietly, stepping up to Jack's side.

“I'm not.” Jack replied, watching Steve from the corner of his eye. “I'm protective of secrets that won't help anyone.”

“Have you figured out how to help Group Tau?”

"Well, I mean...I already know how. But, I'll need paper and pencils.” Jack nodded. Steve went to the door and asked for the supplies. The man standing guard radioed the request in. Jack called the kids in, asking for their attention. “Guys, I have a favor to ask. I'm going to go work with Group Tau, but I need something from you first.”

“Anything,” One of the older children responded.

“I need pictures of the scientists in charge of the programming. Team up with the visually gifted, work together.” Jack explained. As Jack was helping the kids break up into groups, Steve went to retrieve the supplies that the Agent at the door was delivering. Steve passed the supplies out to each table and the children immediately went to work.

“What are they doing?” Steve asked, watching them work. Each group of two or three children had one child that was doing the sketching. Steve was impressed by their skill level; it surpassed his own.

“I need to know which scientists they were exposed to, so I can figure out which one did the programming for Group Tau. If I know the scientist, it will be easy enough to break the programming. If not, they will have to teach me.”

“Teach you what?” Steve asked, frowning.

“What they sound like,” Jack replied softly. Steve's lip quirked up.

“Are you good at that?” Steve asked.

“I don't know, you tell me.” Jack replied, sounding just like Steve. Steve's eyes flew open wide. Jack grinned.

"That clip from the movie...that wasn't really a clip, was it?" 

“Nah, that was me. A little bit of...her." They both sobered instantly. "I need to know what they sound like so I can become them."

“That's either really awesome or really creepy,” Steve told Jack honestly.

“I won't use it against you,” Jack shrugged. “So let's go with awesome.”

“Can we use it against Tony?” Steve asked, grinning. Jack's eyes widened and he nodded his agreement eagerly. Apparently he shared his sister's love of pranking. “We can plan something later.”

“Deal!” Jack grinned. Then both of their smiles slipped as they realized how much Skye should have been a part of it.

Jack patted Steve's shoulder and went to check on the kids' progress. At each group, he switched his voice – taking on the voice of the scientist the children had drawn. It seemed to Steve that he only knew a few of the scientists. Centipede must have a high turnover rate, for that many new scientists to be on staff. Jack and Skye couldn't have been out for that long. For the groups that drew a scientist Jack didn't know, the children spoke to him in the man or woman's voice. They weren't as good as Jack was with the voices, but with some tinkering on Jack's part he was able to leave each table mimicking the scientist.

“He's good, huh?” Steven grinned when Steve sat down at their table.

“What's he doing?”

“He's learning their voices,” Another child explained, pointing to the scientist that their group had drawn.

“Why's he doing that?”

“So he can help with Group Tau.”

“I don't understand,” Steve replied, shrugging with a small smile.

“The programming can only be removed by the scientist that initiated it,” The boy said helpfully.

“Oh.” Steve replied, watching Jack with new interest. He was going to pretend to be the scientist to deprogram Group Tau. How did they suppose Shield was supposed to figure that out? Steve shook his head. Skye wouldn't let Jack out of the bunker to help because of the hit out on him. If she had just asked for help, Group Tau could already be deprogrammed and Skye could be safe. She was just an obstacle to Centipede, but she was special to him. He silently cursed her stubbornness and hoped Tony was getting somewhere with his search of the Centipede retrieval team. For just a moment, his anger at the situation overtook his sorrow. He really needed someone to take that anger out on. Someone bad. Like the people that had taken Skye.

“Are you okay?” Steven asked, wrapping his arms around Steve's arm.

“Yeah, buddy. I'm good.” Steve replied, smiling softly.

“You look sad.”

“It's okay. Don't worry about it.”

"You can't tell me what to do." Steven replied pointedly. “I'm allowed to worry,”

“You don't need to worry about me.”

“Can I worry about him?” Steven asked, pointing to Jack. “Cause he looks sad too.”

“We just lost someone.” Steve sighed, knowing Steven wouldn't drop it. He hoped the boy would let it end at that. He couldn't talk to adults about this without worrying about breaking down, but somehow the boy's concern was worse.

“Someone important?”

“Very.”

“Can I help?”

“Hmm, man, I wish you could.” Steve muttered.

“The person you lost, was he with Jack?” Steven asked, cocking his head.

“Why would you ask that?”

“You said before you wanted people to trust you to protect them. Did Jack trust you? Is that why he's with you now?”

“He didn't have much choice in the matter,” Steve replied after clearing his throat. He wished this child wasn't so damn perceptive. This conversation really needed to be over. Steve wondered if getting up and walking away would hurt the boy's feelings.

“Did his friend not trust you?”

“I don't know, Steven.”

“If he was with Jack, he must have been part of the program.” Steven mused, tracing a finger down Steve's forearm as he thought. After a moment, Steven looked up – looking both frightened and excited. Steve frowned at the emotions on the boy's face. “If he was with Jack, we have to get him back.”

“We're trying, kid.” Steve frowned, quietly losing patience with the boy. He didn't want to talk about it.

“Maybe I can help?” Steven offered, fighting to hide his fear. “We need to get him back.”

“Do you know of any other facilities?” Steve asked, cocking an eyebrow at the boy. “Or names of any of the scientists?”

“Not their real names,” Steven sighed, seeing where Steve was going. “There was another building. Where we were brought to before we started the program. But that was a long time ago and I don't remember much. I was so scared...”

“It's okay kid. Really, don't worry about it.” Steve dismissed.

“I'll ask around, see if anyone remembers more about the building.” Steven replied, looking determined. Steve shook his head, watching the boy run off. He stopped at each table to talk to the children there. Steve frowned as he saw the fear and concern contaminate the entire group. Steve didn't understand what happened.

“I think I'm ready to see Group Tau.” Jack sighed, dropping into a chair next to Steve.

“Okay, let's go find them.” Steve nodded, pushing his confusion back. Jack frowned slightly, but didn't ask Steve what was wrong. The guard at the door told them where to find Tau, though he was hesitant to do so. Steve had to pull out his Captain America persona to convince the man to tell them.

“I need a lab coat,” Jack said softly. “I'm not sure which scientist put the programming on, so I need some time to try out a few voices.”

“We can get you a coat,” Steve nodded. He understood perfectly – Jack couldn't deprogram the children if they were attacking him. He didn't have Skye's skills.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“Um, I need to practice some more.” Jack heaved, slamming the door shut behind him. The pounding gradually quieted.

“Didn't go well?” Steve asked, barely suppressing a smirk. Obviously, it hadn't gone well.

“Well, I know which scientist programmed them, so that's good news.” Jack replied, bending over to catch his breath. “It just isn't a scientist I know, so I wasn't convincing enough. I'll go talk with the younger children again, then we can go back to the Tower. We can come back tomorrow, right?”

“Anything you need,” Steve nodded.

 

 

 


	19. Horrendously Un-Useful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack needs to practice, and Steve and Clint get a mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay. I had an unexpected hospitalization and then realized there was a plot hole I forgot to fill. Anyways, I'll post another chapter later tonight to make up for the delay. Sorry. :S

 

 

“I hate the idea of going back to the Tower and sitting around,” Jack moaned, following Steve out of headquarters. They had just spent the last two hours chatting with the kids, letting Jack get a more comprehensive understanding of the scientist he would need to impersonate. The kids referred to him as Dr. Green. Turns out, each doctor was assigned a color. No real names were used; they were too smart for that. Stupidly, frustratingly smart.

“You said you needed to practice being the scientist.” Steve replied, waiting to see where Jack was going with this.

“Yeah, but I can do that anywhere. I mean, you probably wouldn't want me to do it around a bunch of strangers, but anywhere.”

“Where would you like to go?”

“The bunker?” Jack asked softly. “Maybe we can find something they left behind.”

“You really want to go wander around the woods?” Steve asked, though he was already pulling out his phone. Someone was bound to be available to take them. It was too far to just drive, not if Jack wanted to be back to deprogram the kids.

“I want to be useful. Or, at least feel like I'm not being horrendously un-useful.”

“Let's find food while we wait for our ride,” Steve nodded. He felt the exact same way.

“Can we get pizza? I would kill for a pizza.”

“We can get pizza,” Steve smiled, waving Jack towards the nearest pizzeria.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“You ate two?” Clint asked incredulously. 

“Um...” Steve frowned, looking at the empty pans.

“We were hungry?” Jack offered, picking a jalapeno off the tray and offering it to Clint.

“You didn't even save me one piece?” Clint sighed dramatically.

“Go get a piece,” Jack smirked. “They sell by the slice.”

“You two are ridiculous. You want me to come haul your asses all over kingdom come and you don't even...”

“You want to come too,” Steve interrupted.

“Hell yes I do.” Clint nodded, stopping mid-rant. “I want to find some fucking straggler in the woods and I want to...”

“Maybe save this conversation for a different location?” Steve asked softly. “I agree. Man, do I agree...but these people don't need to know that.”

Steve shot a pointed look around the small pizza place. Clint sighed and nodded.

“I'm gonna grab a slice to go and we can get out of here. We're gonna need some daylight to work by.”

“Where'd you park?” Jack asked, peeking out the window.

“Roof.” Clint shouted from the line. 

“Of course, he parked on the roof.” Jack grumbled, wrapping his scarf back around his neck. “Gonna have to hoof it up all those stairs...wait, do they have stairs? I'm not climbing some rickety fire escape.”

“We can just leave him here, right?” Clint grinned, walking up with his pizza.

“We can come back and drop his bag of goodies.” Steve agreed. He cocked his head at Jack, “What is in your bag of goodies?”

“For me to know and you to...not.”

“Witty. Very witty.” Clint laughed, saluting Jack with his slice.

“Let's get going before it's dark.” Steve sighed. With these two on board, it was going to be a very long flight. They both used snark and humor to hide their feelings, which wasn't really Steve's speed. He could, and did, hide behind them – but more to put other people at ease than to hide himself. 

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

They were halfway to the bunker, by Clint's estimates, when the call came in.

“Ma'am, I understand...but we're not at the Tower.” Clint said into his headset. Steve and Jack exchanged a look and headed for the cockpit. There was a lengthy pause, then Clint sighed. “Acknowledged.”

“What happened?” Steve asked the second Clint disconnected the call.

“Some Shield operatives got taken. We need to go get them back; we're the closest unit.”

“We have a civilian on board.” Steve pointed out. Clint was already nodding his head.

“Yeah, I know, Steve.” He grumbled moodily. “But orders are orders.”

“Can I trust you to stay on the jet?” Steve asked, whirling on Jack. “I mean it, no getting off this jet for any reason.”

“Yes, sir.” Jack replied, completely seriously. “I can practice while you're gone.”

“Practice what?” Clint asked, adjusting his coordinates.

“Being a scientist.” Steve muttered distractedly.

“To deprogram Tau.”

“I don't understand,” Clint sighed.

“The programming can only be removed by the scientist that put in on in the first place,” Steve explained impatiently. “Nice of them to explain that to us, huh?”

“Steve, it's not her fault.” Jack said soberly.

“If she let you come do this...impersonation thing, the kids would be fine and you two would both be safe.” Steve hissed, before stepping back and out of the cockpit.

“Well, he's not wrong.” Clint sighed, rubbing his face.

“Would you put Tasha in danger to help people you don't know?” Jack asked softly.

“We do every day.” Clint rebutted.

“If she had the street skills of an infant?” Jack asked, quirking his lip sarcastically. “I understand why you're mad. Hell, I'm mad as shit too...but I can also understand why she did what she did. I'm not easy to take care of. I know why she didn't want to take that risk.”

“We're going to teach you some street skills,” Clint grumbled, putting the jet on autopilot. “I'm going to go talk to Steve. You might want to stay here for a minute.”

“Got it,” Jack nodded.

“Cap?” Clint asked, closing the door to the cockpit to give them some privacy.

“I'm sorry,” Steve said, his words slightly muffled. His head was hanging in his hands.

“It's okay,” Clint replied, sliding into a seat next to him. “It's okay to be mad and frustrated; we all are.”

“I shouldn't have taken it out on you two. I'm sorry.”

“You're forgiven.” Clint said easily.

“She just kept saying we had the best and brightest – that we could figure it out.” Steve sighed, picking his head up. “How in the hell were we supposed to figure that out? Hell, even if they figured it out, how were we supposed to imitate a scientist we don't know?”

“I don't know Steve. She would have come around eventually. She's far too kind of a person to let those kids suffer. She would have locked Jack away somewhere and come and taken care of them.”

“She can't deprogram them. Jack is the one with the skill.” Steve replied tiredly. He didn't get his full four hours last night. “He's...stupid good.”

“Oh yea?” Clint smirked, glancing back towards the door. “I wouldn't have guessed.”

“He did me, in front of the kids.”

“Did you like it?” Clint smirked, pressing his lips together.

“Yeah. It was really good.” Steve replied honestly. Clint covered his mouth, trying to hide his laughter.

“Would you do it again?”

“We're gonna do it to Tony,” Steve smirked. “I'll let Jack plan it. He's better at it than I am.”

“Well, I'm sure practice makes perfect.” Clint bit out, then lost it. Steve replayed the conversation in his head while Clint chortled, then sighed when he figured out what amused him so much.

“You are the most immature twat I've ever had to work with,” Steve told Clint, shaking his head. There was a small smile on his face though. It was hard to stay mad at Clint. His laughter was infectious.

“You might want to go change,” Clint laughed, pointing out a spare suit Tony always kept on board for emergencies. “I'll keep Jack occupied.”

“Thanks.”

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“You brought a civilian along?” One of the two Shield operatives they rescued asked, looking incredulously at the pair of Avengers.

“It's date night,” Jack responded instantly, winking at the operative. Clint grinned and walked over to Jack, slinging his arm around his shoulders.

“I'm sure Steve'll make it up to you.” He smirked, peeking a look at Steve. 

Steve was in a marginally better mood, now that he had a chance to vent some of his anger on the men holding the Shield operatives captive. Steve shot a tired smile Jack's way, then tossed the two unconscious bodies on the floor of the jet and headed back out to grab the other two. They had put up a surprisingly good fight, which was exactly what Steve needed at the moment. Clint saw his frustration and knew Steve was imagining the men were the ones that took Skye. Whatever helped him through this. 

Clint was sure they would get Skye back. Jack wasn't as sure; in fact, he seemed to be more confident that she was lost. But Tony was the best and they had never failed to get back someone that was important to them. It might be a challenge, but the Avengers excelled at difficult situations. He just had to keep Steve and Jack sane until that could happen. 

“Tony called while you were out. I answered, in case it was important.” Jack offered. Both Clint and Steve's head whipped around, the disappointment screamed from Jack's expression so they knew it wasn't anything about Skye. “He wants to talk to Steve when we get back to the Tower.”

“We good here, Cap?” Clint asked, hand hovering over the button to close the jet up.

“Get us in the air,” Steve nodded.

 

 


	20. Should I call you Mom?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gives Steve a flash drive to hand off to Jack. Steve and Jack head back to headquarters to finish deprogramming Tau.

“The hit wasn't on Jack,” Tony told Steve, once he caught him alone. They had taken the Shield operatives and the four men that had taken them to headquarters, then headed back for the Tower. It had been a long day.

Tony pulled up the hit on his tablet, then showed it to Steve. There was a picture of a slightly younger Skye and a price of 5 million dollars for her capture. It didn't specify whether they needed her alive or dead, which didn't bode well for her safety now.

“But, Jack said...” Steve frowned, still looking at the hit.

“That's because she altered it,” Tony interrupted, taking the tablet back and hitting a few buttons. The information remained the same, but now Jack's picture was in Skye's place. “He was probably being unsafe. She could convince him to stay in the bunker if he thought the hit was on him.”

“How'd you find this?” Steve asked, handing the tablet back.

“Went through her backup system. I went through the internet, too, once I realized my search was wrong. I found a string of hits placed on Skye going back a few years,” Tony frowned, flipping through the files to show Steve the hits. The price for her capture went up with each hit and the need to keep her alive went down. Their desperation to have her unharmed waned until it was clear they would be more than happy with just her body. Tony let Steve process the new information for a minute before subtly switching the topic. “The super guards must have knocked out her microphones when they broke the bunker doors. The other files all had audio. I made Jack a flash drive of stuff from the system. The first few months, they managed okay. It wasn't until month three that they really started going stir crazy. By month five...well, I could see why Jack would leave without questioning why Skye wasn't coming. Even with emailing you...”

“Sorry,” Steve muttered, hearing the angry tone in Tony's voice. He never had gotten around to telling Tony about his correspondence with Skye and Jack. “It wasn't anything that could have helped us... It was private. She was there when I needed someone.”

“You live in a Tower with other people. People who care about her too.” Tony replied, ticking people off on his fingers. “Me, Clint, Tasha...”

“And you guys all go off on your own when _this_ is too much.” Steve interrupted angrily. “After we looked through the hard drive the first time, you went to go find Pepper. Clint and Tasha ran off to their floor. Bruce was still sleeping, not that I could talk to him about what was on there without the threat of him Hulking out on me.”

“I'm sorry,” Tony sighed, slumping. “I never thought about...”

“It's not your fault. I'm just explaining... You guys all have something private with other people. The emails were my private thing.” Steve's voice broke on the past tense. What if there weren't any more emails from Skye? “The hit didn't say anything about keeping her alive. They just wanted her body. Jack seems convinced that she's gone for good. He hides it well, and helping out with the kids is a good distraction...but he's grieving her.”

“I'm sending Clint and Tasha to talk to the mercenary that took the hit. Maybe he can offer us some insight.” Tony said softly. He had never considered how lonely Steve must be. He was the man out of time – all his friends were dead. The only people he had were the Avengers and maybe a few agents. He was right – when it came down to it, he was alone when it mattered. “That reminds me, I need to show you some stuff from her backup system. Come see me later?”

“Sure thing,” Steve nodded, taking the flash drive Tony offered him. “I'll go hand this off to Jack.”

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

Jack was sleeping already, exhausted from the day. Steve couldn't wake him, not with how little sleep he had been getting. Skye's warning of keeping him on a schedule ringed in the back of his head. They needed to establish a routine. Jack was hard enough to handle on his best days; Steve was sure he didn't want to see him on his worst.

 

“Can we go back to headquarters?” Jack asked the second Steve came back from his run. Steve only managed an hour or two of broken sleep before giving up. He ran extra long, pushing his body to the brink, hoping to exhaust himself so he could sleep later. Sometimes being a super soldier really sucked.

“You need to eat before I'm taking you anywhere.” Steve replied, stripping his sweaty shirt off. “I'm going to go shower. I'll meet you in the kitchen?”

“I'm really not hungry.” Jack muttered, heading for the elevator anyway.

“I know you're not.” Steve said softly. “But you need to eat. You need to take care of yourself, even if you don't want to. She would expect you to.”

“Damn it. Go shower, Steve.”

Steve headed towards the shower, trying to ignore Jack's annoyed muttering about body dimensions of a Dorito. He frowned in confusion, but decided he probably didn't want to know.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“Whatcha making?” Steve asked, treading into the kitchen softly – bracing himself for Jack's mood.

“Toast.” Jack replied shortly. Tony looked at Steve with wide eyes.

“Don't ask if he wants help,” Tony mouthed to Steve, shaking his head violently to make his point. Steve smiled a little.

“I'm going to make some eggs,” Steve announced. “Tony, you want some?”

“Is it going to end up scrambled?” Tony asked, smirking slightly. He was basically clutching his coffee; Steve guessed Tony hadn't slept any more than he had.

“Probably, yeah.” Steve shrugged.

“Sure. Thanks.” Tony smiled. Steve smiled back and got some ingredients out of the fridge.

“Should I throw some in for you too?” Steve asked casually, not looking up from the mushrooms he was quartering.

“I know what you're doing,” Jack replied pointedly.

“I'll throw some in for you,” Steve replied, scooping the onions and mushrooms into a frying pan. He sliced some pre-cooked sausage and added that to the pan too. Finally, he cracked an entire dozen eggs and scrambled them before adding them to the mess.

“Since you've taken over mothering duties, should I call you Mom?” Jack bit out, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Tony smirked and hid his own face in his mug.

“I prefer Dad, actually.” Steve replied dryly, not bothering to look up from his cooking. Tony snorted into his coffee, unable to bite back his laughter. Jack sighed an added more toast to the toaster. He might as well contribute.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“I'll hang out for a bit,” Steve told Jack, watching him slip on the lab coat. “But if I'm not here when you come back out, I'll probably be with the kids.”

“Okay. If this works, I'll just bring this group with me. They should be together.” Jack nodded, his face stoney. Steve wasn't sure if his mood was still sour or if he was already slipping into character. Either way, he would take flamboyantly happy Jack any day.

True to his word, Steve paced the hall outside Group Tau's room for the better part of an hour. Finally, he was bored enough that he wandered off. Jack hadn't been able to give him a time estimate on how long this would take.

“Steve!” Steven grinned, throwing himself at Steve. He easily caught to boy and waited patiently while the boy climbed up onto his shoulders. “Two days in a row? Whoa.”

“Jack is deprogramming Tau.” Steve replied, smiling up at the boy. Steven cocked his head at the man beneath him.

“Did you find Jack's friend yet?”

“No, buddy. We haven't.” Steve replied, his smile dropping.

“I'm sorry.” Steven said softly, patting Steve's face. He laughed and grabbed the boy by an arm and leg, then chucked him into the pile of beanbags.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

When Jack brought Group Tau into the room, he couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of him. There was a massive fight going on. The children had divided themselves into two groups and were using their flipped bunks as barriers. Knotted up clothes and bean bags were being hurled back and forth between the barriers. Steven was leaning over Steve, who was on the ground.

“I've been hit. You're going to have to carry on without me,” Steve gasped, clutching his chest dramatically. He made a weird wheezing sound and flopped limply back onto the floor.

“No! Steve!” Steven cried out, before breaking character and laughing hysterically. Steve peeled an eye open and saw Jack in the doorway.

“Did it work?” Steve called out, letting the children around him pull him to his feet.

“Yeah, but now they all think you're crazy.” Jack sighed, waving Tau into the room. These children were older than Chi and Upsilon. Steve guessed they were in their early teen years. They looked worse for the wear: exhausted and frightened. They wore the too-large Shield clothing that they had been changed into while Iced. Everyone was too afraid to Ice them again; Skye's warning about them building tolerance had been taken seriously. The other children rushed the frightened group, all of them shouting excitedly in the mash-up. Jack smiled and brushed off (what Steve assumed were) compliments. He headed towards Steve with a satisfied smile.

“Feel better?” Steve asked softly. Jack hugged Steve tightly.

“Yeah. I'm sorry I was so terrible this morning.”

“It's okay.” Steve replied, freeing his arms so he could return the hug. “Trust me, I know how it feels to be so frustrated and to not know what to do about it.”

“You're talking about us, aren't you?” Jack chuckled wetly.

“Maybe,” Steve smiled.

“Let's get out of here. The kids need some time to themselves.”

“Deal. Let's find you some food. You didn't hardly eat your breakfast.”

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

Steve remembered about the flash drive when they got back to the Tower. He was halfway through his workout, so he finished then showered. He found Jack sitting on his bed, lost in thought.

“Here,” Steve said softly, breaking Jack out of his day dream. “Tony made it for you.”

“What is it?” Jack asked, still trying to push his grief back behind his mask. Steve wondered if he was getting sick, or if the grief was just getting to him. Jack didn't look like he felt 100%.

“I'm not sure. He said he went through Skye's backup system.”

“Do you mind if I use your laptop?” Jack asked, offering up a small smile to hide his shining eyes.

“Go for it,” Steve nodded, then turned and headed for the door. They were in his apartment; Jack was sitting on his bed, but Steve was leaving to give him privacy.

“You can stay,” Jack said softly, holding up the flash drive. “If this is what I think it is, you'll probably enjoy it too.”

“Tony made it for you. It's private,” Steve replied shaking his head. “I'll be out on the couch if you need me.”

“Okay,” Jack replied, swallowing hard. Steve almost changed his mind and stayed. He assumed it was pictures and videos from their time in the bunk, which meant he would get to see Skye...but Jack was her brother. He got first dibs on anything Skye related. Besides, Steve would want time alone if he was handed anything like this from Bucky and his childhood. Steve sat down on the couch with a book and waited for Jack to emerge from his room.

A long while later, Jack reemerged from Steve's room. He had obviously been crying. Jack settled next to Steve on the couch, pulling himself into his side. Steve dropped his arm around him, giving him whatever support he could.

“You okay?” Steve asked.

“Yeah. It's just hard...” Jack's voice broke. “It's going to be all I have left. There are some pictures in the van, but...”

“We're not giving up yet.” Steve said firmly. “We can go get the van, later.” Steve offered. He knew the vehicle was important to both of them. “Clint can drop us off in the jet.”

“Okay,” Jack agreed. “Do you want to watch it?”

“That's up to you,” Steve deflected. He did want to see it. Desperately. He wanted to see Skye being silly with her brother, because he was certain that was what was on the flash drive. But he also understood the need to keep some things private.

“It can be ours,” Jack said softly. “I know you love her as much as I do.”

“I barely knew her,” Steve shrugged. “I think it's safe to say you love her more.”

“You're not denying it.” Jack pointed out.

“No, I'm not.” Steve replied simply.

“I like the idea of sharing her with you.” Jack said softly. He put the laptop on Steve's lap and opened it. He settled more comfortably against Steve before hitting play.

Steve was right. It was a collection of video clips and screen shots from Skye's security system. There were numerous videos of the two playing pranks on each other. Skye seemed to like small scale pranks, while Jack liked to plan more elaborate jokes. They learned choreography for a variety of songs, then danced around the small bunker while the speakers blasted the songs. They sang duets and tried to make up their own choreography. Jack always took on the singer's voice exactly. Skye was always laughing too hard to attempt to imitate the voices, but she had a pretty singing voice of her own. She seemed to like doing the rapping parts of songs, which caught Steve off guard. They had a marathon of horror movies, then took turns sleeping in the same bunk that night. The one that was awake had a flashlight that they would occasionally flip on to investigate a small sound. Jack woke Skye from her slumber by putting the flashlight under his chin and quoting a line from the movie. Skye woke with a scream, then smacked her brother while he laughed hysterically.

Tony had also captured the quiet moments. Skye, sleeping on Jack's shoulder. The two watching a movie, while Skye threaded her fingers through his hair as he rested his head on her lap. Skye, crying but smiling as she told Jack she had a name now. Jack, calling her _Skylar Elizabeth_ after her next prank, and her enormous grin that followed. The two planning and building a massive blanket fort. The flash drive went on and on. Tony had months of material to pull from. Steve and Jack were both crying as they watched it, but laughed wetly when something particularly stupid happened. When they finally got to the end of the video, Jack sighed and closed the lid.

“She's really gone?” Steve asked, wiping his eyes.

“We won't get her back.” Jack replied softly. “It was never manpower that stopped us from getting my brothers and sisters back. It was information. If we knew where they took them, it would be totally different. Besides, it's been too long. If we found them within the first twenty four hours, maybe. That's a _very_ small maybe. But now? Even if we found her, it wouldn't mean anything.”

“It would,” Steve contradicted. Jack just shook his head. “Why not? What are they going to...”

“I'm not going to tell you.” Jack interrupted. “I'm not going to tell you ever.”

“Jack, I can handle it.”

“But you shouldn't have to. I want you to remember her like this,” Jack smiled, holding up Steve's phone. The background of his phone was Skye, laughing from the video Jack had sent him.

“So there's no hope?” Steve asked, feeling his throat tighten up.

“There's always hope,” Jack replied softly. “But in our case, we're going to hope it was quick.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have been so patient with my weird posting lately. I should be back on track now. Thank you!


	21. Steve's Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve goes to talk to Tony about some stuff he found on Skye's hard drive. There's a surprise on there for Steve.

 

 

“How long did it take you to put that flash drive together?” Steve asked, leaning against the door of Tony's lab. Tony glanced up from his computer, saw it was Steve, and shrugged.

“Longer than it should have.” Tony admitted. He could admit his weakness, especially when he could see the evidence of Steve's all over his face. The lab fell into an uneasy silence.

“You have something to show me?” Steve prompted, walking into the lab.

“Yeah. I'm not sure how you're going to feel about it,” Tony warned.

“Good or bad?” Steve asked, frowning.

“I don't know,” Tony replied. “Bit of both, probably. I have more than one thing to show you.”

“Great.” Steve sighed. “Let's get this over with.”

“First, you know when we broke those kids out? That favor we did for her?” Tony asked, tugging on his facial hair. Steve nodded. “She hacked my suit.”

“I remember.”

“I assumed it was her I was talking to.” Tony said, frowning. “Well, it was. At first. Until Tasha found the first group of kids.”

“Jack said she didn't know.” Steve agreed. Tony nodded.

“She took it badly. I don't know if you want to see...but I need to offer.”

“Show me.” Steve replied without hesitating. Tony needed to share it, share the burden. He could ease some of the weight from his shoulders.

“The audio works on this video.” Tony nodded, turning back to his computer.

“ _I've got more,” Tasha's voice whispered, coming through faintly through the computer speaker._

“ _More?” Skye frowned, leaning closer to the computer. “More what?”_

“ _These ones have been here longer. Christ, what are they doing to these kids?”_

“ _Jack,” Skye whispered, her voice cracking on the single word. Jack was instantly at her side. “They have more. There are more kids there.”_

“ _Skye, breathe.” Jack said calmly, rubbing her back. Skye pushed away from the computer._

“ _There are more. How did we miss this? There's no feed in there. Did you hear her voice?” Skye swallowed hard. “If Tasha's disgusted, they've got to be bad. Oh, God. We could have stopped this.”_

“ _Skye, you need to pull it together.” Jack said firmly, holding her face in his hands. “You need to watch their backs. They don't have the cameras.”_

“ _I need...I need...” Skye gasped, her hands shaking violently. Her eyes darted to the computer screen. “Warn Steve.”_

_Skye bolted for the bunker door, but fumbled with the locking mechanism. When she finally got the locks released, she was barely controlling her breathing. She gasped in deep breaths, trying to force calm onto herself. Jack was typing into the computer._

“ _Skye, I think the guards were kids...” Jack said softly. Too softly. Skye didn't hear him over the sound of her labored breathing. Jack's face fell and turned a concerning shade of white. He frowned and cocked his head at the screen._

“ _Skye...Tasha's going to find the Eraser.”He made sure Skye heard him that time._

“ _Tell her not to fucking go in there!” Skye gasped, her face turning just as white as her brother. She hurried to sit on the bunk near the computer, watching over Jack's shoulder. Her hands were still shaking violently, even as they brushed tears from her cheeks. “10 heading towards Tony. Have him go left. There are more. There are more kids. Look at that room - that's two groups that we didn't know about.” Skye was wide eyed with her panic. She shoved back from the computer and all but collapsed on the bunk. She put her head between her knees and took shuddering breaths._

“ _Skye, I need you to pull yourself together here.” Jack pleaded. “You know I can't do this as well as you can. I need you. Please. Look, Clint's saying hi.”_

“ _He needs to focus.” Skye yelled, her head still between her knees. She took a breath and forced herself upright. “You're going to have to type. I can't...”_

_Skye's hands were shaking and Jack understood what she meant._

“ _I'll do it. You need to be my eyes.”_

“ _There's more coming. Have Dr. Banner head to Tony. Send Thor to Steve.” Skye ordered, pointing to something on the computer screen. There was a long minute of silence from Skye. Jack was still typing into the computer._

“ _Why are you sending the Hulk away?” Skye asked, pointing to the computer. “Coulson's going to need help.”_

“ _I got it.” Jack muttered, concentrating on the screen. Skye was obviously frustrated with his speed, but couldn't get herself under control enough to take over._

“ _There's a camera in this room,” Skye frowned. “Shit. SHIT. Don't let them go in there. Tell Tony to get Ward and May.”_

“ _I don't know what that means!” Jack hissed, typing anyway._

“ _They have the dendrotoxin in round form. They can ice the kids. Look at them. They've gotten better at programming.” Skye groaned. “I can't. I can't... Jack, the guards are all taken care of. Can you...please? I need...”_

_Skye didn't wait for an answer, just bolted from the bunker. She had left the door open from her breather before._ Tony switched to one of the outdoor cameras. _Skye collapsed against a tree and struggled to contain her tears. Her hands were shaking and her breathing was hard. She turned suddenly and retched behind a tree, the sound mingling with her broken sobs._

“ _Skye!” Jack called after a minute. Skye struggled to her feet and rushed inside._

“ _They found three groups.” Jack informed her, pointing out the specialists escorting children out of the compound. “And I think the guards were part of this too.”_

“ _Why?” Skye asked, frowning._

“ _Look at their tattoos,” Jack replied softly._

“ _That's at least five groups. That's **years** of experiments.”_

“ _Skye, we couldn't have done anything. We didn't know.”_

“ _EXACTLY!” Skye cried, finally losing her self control. “How did we not know? This is what I've been keeping an eye on. EVERY FUCKING DAY.”_

_Skye collapsed onto the bunk, letting her tears out. For several long minutes, Jack smoothed her hair. She cried until she couldn't breathe, then Jack maneuvered her into an upright position._

“ _Jack,” Skye whispered from his shoulder. “How can I keep you safe if I didn't even know about this?”_

“They really didn't know,” Steve commented, exhaling slowly. Tony was right, it was hard to watch Skye break down.

“She talked with me briefly,” Tony said softly, pointing to the screen. She was still crying, but was under control enough to type a few short responses to reassure Tony. “She fell asleep afterward. I think she was just done.”

“Why is she only worried about Jack?” Steve asked, cocking his head at the screen. “She said, how can I keep you safe? Not – how can I keep us safe. She keeps reiterating that point. He's the special one.”

“But the hit was on her.” Tony sighed.

“She's the threat. You saw her moves. Jack's got limited street skills. He's admitted the only reason he's made it this long was because of her. With her out of the way, he's exposed.”

“He'll have to be with us at all times then. Skye trusted us to keep him safe.”

“I'll keep him safe. What else was on there?”

“The information she stole from us, she saved onto a flash drive.” Tony informed him. “I bet it's one of the ones that Jack has now.”

“I'll ask him.” Steve nodded. “But I doubt he'll give it to us.”

“There's more.” Tony said softly.

“More like this?” Steve asked, sitting down in an office chair. He was suddenly exhausted.

“More or less.” Tony nodded. “She has nightmares.”

“I would be surprised if she didn't.” Steve sighed. “I have nightmares about it and I was only in the building for a few hours.”

“Want to see them?” Tony asked.

“I don't know if I can handle them all.” Steve replied honestly. “Pull me a few?”

“Sure thing.”

Skye's nightmares ranged from a frowning face and muttered annoyances, usually in their mash-up language, to sobbing and thrashing. She always woke herself up with her hand clamped firmly over her mouth. Jack was either a heavy sleeper or had learned to ignore her nightmares over the years because he never stirred. The hardest one to watch was right after the Avengers pulled the kids from the complex. She had a full blown panic attack. She had calmed herself down, keeping her head between her knees until the shaking subsided and she could catch her breath. Every night since that rescue, Skye woke after only a few hours of sleep. She would calm herself, then go putter around on the computer until Jack started to move around. Then she would sneak back into bed and pretend to be asleep until he woke.

“Why didn't Jack do anything?” Steve asked angrily. “She shouldn't have to deal with those on her own.”

“He never woke. The microphones must be really sensitive; we heard every noise, but she was really quite quiet.” Tony offered. The expression on his face let Steve know he didn't really believe that was a good excuse. “You know she wouldn't wake him. She's stubborn like that.”

“Yeah, she is.” Steve agreed, hanging his head. His anger slowly dissolved as he forgave Jack for not helping her through her nightmares. You can't solve a problem you don't know about.

“I have two more things to show you.” Tony offered. “One is probably good news, but I'm not sure. The other is what Jarvis was able to decipher from her broken audio when the guards came for her.”

“Let's hear what Jarvis has to say.” Steve picked. He figured he would need some good, or relatively good, news after this conversation.

“Okay, so the guards break the door down, they come in and surround her...right?” Tony summarizes, pulling up the video.

“Right.” Steve confirmed.

“Jarvis couldn't get the whole conversation, obviously only Skye's end, but there are some pieces missing when she turned her head and we couldn't read her lips.”

“What'd she say?” Steve asked softly. Tony didn't reply, just hit play. Jarvis had pulled bits of Skye's voice from her surveillance video of the bunker and used that to recreate her voice. It sounded a bit robotic, but was definitely Skye.

“ _So you finally got me. Good thing too, I'm tired of running...........stupid kids couldn't follow my leadership to save their lives. Literally... Yeah, so I have a fuck buddy. Doesn't make him one... You really think you're going to get me with that?”_

“That's it?” Steve asked, frowning. It really wasn't much.Tony shrugged.

“There's a segment missing from the beginning, but it's fairly small.”

“So she knew who was after them.”

“Sounds like it.”

“She didn't tell them about Jack.”

“I'm assuming they asked about the man she was with, prompting her fuck buddy comment.”

“Yeah, what is that?” Steve blushed.

“Exactly what it sounds like.” Tony couldn't help but grin. He got such a kick out of Steve's embarrassment. “A friend that you have sex with. No strings attached.”

“They didn't know she was the only one left?” Steve asked after a moment. He wasn't sure how to respond to Tony; he wasn't sure who would want that type of relationship – or lack of relationship? “She showed disdain towards the kids, I'm assuming the ones she rescued with Jack. Probably a ruse, to prevent them from using anyone against her.”

“I agree. They didn't know a lot about her.” Tony nodded. “I just don't understand. Even if they just wanted her to get her out of the way, they make no inquiries about Jack. I mean, it sounds like they ask about a man with her, but they don't press the issue after Skye dismisses him as a fuck buddy.”

“Maybe they assume Jack is dead already?” Steve offered, his face contorted as he thought. “I would be pissed at the person keeping my target out of my grasp. Maybe they just want a little...retribution...”

After a minute of silence, Tony added, “Skye also had a side project.”

“Is this the good news?” Steve asked.

“I honestly don't know.”

“Just tell me.” Steve sighed, sitting down in one of Tony's office chairs. He was exhausted. Between missions, helping with the kids, and grieving with Jack, Steve hadn't been sleeping very well. Was this how Skye felt? Exhausted? Drained? Desperate.

“You remember that mission you had a few months back?” Tony asked, scratching his eyebrow. “The one where the sniper almost got you?”

“Yeah.” Steve nodded. Light had reflected from the sniper's position, just as Steve was pulling his face mask off for a breather. The bullet had hit the cement a foot above Steve's head. By the time the team had converged on the sniper's location, he had vanished.

“I think it was Sargent Barnes?” Tony said hesitantly. “I mean, I think Skye thought it was Sargent Barnes.”

“Bucky?” Steve frowned, scoffing. “My Bucky? From the 40's?”

“I don't know why you're making that sound. _You're_ from the forties,” Tony replied evenly.

“I saw Bucky fall. He couldn't have survived that.”

“You shouldn't have survived that plane crash.”

“I'm enhanced.”

“Skye thinks he is too.” Tony grimaced. “Not as good as you. But enough. You did rescue him after Hydra experimented on him. Did you ever find out what they did?”

“No, Bucky never wanted to talk about it.” Steve shrugged, feeling like a million pounds just settled on his shoulders. Bucky was alive?

“She's been in contact.”

“With Bucky?” Steve asked, his voice unnaturally high.

“Yeah. I think that was the flash drive she pulled from her laptop before smashing it.”

“I need to go talk to Jack.”

 

 


	22. Skye's Side Project

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve asks Jack about Skye's side project.

 

 

“Are you aware of your sister's side project?” Steve asked, more or less crashing into his room. Jack was fiddling on Steve's laptop.

“Oh, hey Steve. It's nice to see you. I'm good.” Jack muttered, clicking. Steve sighed and sat on the end of the bed.

“Hi Jack. What are you doing?”

“Going through some stuff.” Jack offered, smiling over the top of the computer screen. That's when Steve noticed the flash drive stuck in the side of his laptop.

“Is that one of Skye's?” Steve asked, nodding towards the drive. Jack nodded. “Are you going to tell me what group you came from yet?” Steve asked, though at this point it was more of a game.

“Nope.” Jack replied, not looking up from the computer screen. Was it his imagination, or did Jack seem paler than usual?

“You never answered my question.” Steve smiled. He appreciated Jack's honesty. He might not tell him everything, but he never tried to lie about it.

“What was it again?” Jack asked, frowning at the computer. He glanced up at Steve.

“Were you aware of your sister's side project?” Steve asked again.

“Eh, I knew she was doing _something_. Never asked what it was. We both did our own thing as much as we could.” He looked at Steve's serious face. “Why?”

“The flash drives from the bunker, the ones she left in the brick...do you know which one she pulled from her laptop?”

“Yeah...” Jack frowned.

“Can I have it?”

“I'm going to look it over first.” Jack told Steve.

“It's not anything on you two, or your group.” Steve replied.

“I'm still going to make sure.”

“Can you do it now?”

“Uh...” Jack looked like he was going to refuse, but then he saw the look on Steve's face. “Sure. What was the project?”

“She may have been in contact with an old friend of mine,” Steve offered slowly.

“Old being the key word?” Jack asked, rummaging through the bedside table on the far side of Steve's bed. Steve raised an eyebrow in a small shrug.

“I honestly don't know. Kind of curious to see what Skye knows that I don't.”

Jack plugged in another flash drive and clicked it open. Skye's voice started speaking through the speakers.

“ _Steve, if you're seeing this, well...we've either run out of options or I think we're about to._ ” Steve came to sit by Jack's side. Since Skye was speaking directly to him, he figured he could watch. Jack must have felt the same way, because he didn't complain. Skye smiled at the computer, making an embarrassed face. “ _I can't believe I'm even doing this, talking to a computer...but if something happens, I want you to have this. I want you to have him. You deserve to have someone in your life. It can't be us. He deserves to have you too, even if he doesn't think so._ ” Skye shrugged a bit. She pushed her hair back over her shoulder. “ _Anyway. I don't know when, or if, you'll get this. Hopefully never. I hope I can convince him to come to you, so you won't have to track him down. I'll keep adding what I have, just in case. Good luck, Soldier._ ”

“Sounds like it's for you,” Jack frowned, trying to hide the sadness in his voice.

“Even if he doesn't think so?” Steve frowned, pondering the words. “What does that mean?”

“Sounds like he's in a bad place.” Jack shrugged. “Want me to help you navigate this?”

“Yeah, sure.” Steve agreed. Jack had pulled up the contents of the drive and Steve frowned at the numerous files that had appeared on the screen. Jack clicked through pictures, still shots of a man with long, dark hair. There weren't any good shots of his face, mostly segments of his profile. Still, Steve knew Bucky. The profile was enough to identify him, even if in half of the pictures it was hidden beneath a mask of some sort. “He's alive?”

“I'm not sure who it is,” Jack confessed.

“Bucky. James Buchanan Barnes. My childhood best friend. He died during the war.”

“Well, obviously not.” Jack offered, his lips quirking up in a small smile.

“I saw him fall. He couldn't have survived that.” Steve was in shock. The pictures were recent. Were proof of Bucky's existence. Steve was good with weird, but he couldn't wrap his head around this.

“Maybe Skye answered that for you?” Jack shrugged. Jack had been avoiding saying her name so his use of it now was enough to break through the shock.

“I didn't know she was doing this.” Steve said softly.

“Looks like she was emailing back and forth with him.” Jack commented, browsing through a file that held the emails. “Took him a while to trust her.”

“How did she initiate contact?”

“Stalked him.” Jack grinned. “Kept calling phones that were near him, if this file is accurate. Knowing her, it is. It's hard to resist her...especially when she wants something. Oh, look. There's a sound bite.”

“Like the internet sound?” Steve asked. Jack laughed out loud and shoved Steve's shoulder.

“The file that held the sound is the sound bite. The sound itself is irrelevant.” 

“I honestly don't know if you're speaking English.” Steve frowned. Jack grinned and clicked on the sound bite.

“ _Will you quit calling me?” Bucky hissed into the line. Skye giggled in response._

“ _I'm so glad you finally picked up. I thought you would never catch on.”_

“ _Who is this?” Barnes voice was weary._

“ _Your new friend, Skye.” She laughed. Bucky sighed._

“ _How do I know you're a friend?”_

“ _Because I know your friend Steve. And we both know he has excellent people radar.”_

“ _I don't know who you're talking about.”_

“ _Don't lie to me, Mr. Barnes.” Skye's voice lost the amused tone, but she still sounded warm._

“ _I don't think I'm him any more.” Bucky replied._

“ _Well of course not,” Skye chuckled. “You're different, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing.”_

“ _I don't know who I am.”_

“ _I would love to help you with that.” Skye offered._ Steve smiled at the smile he could hear in Skye's voice. She didn't know anything about Bucky except that he meant a lot to him, but she was putting herself on the line for him.

“ _I think I might be willing to try that.” Bucky replied. Steve could hear the smile in his voice. “Stevie always was a good judge of character.”_

“Aw, he calls you Stevie too?” Jack snorted.

“It's really Bucky.” Steve replied, grinning. “She found Bucky for me.”

“Here. You should have this.” Jack smiled, pulling the flash drive. “Looked like there were some maps on there. Tony can probably help you locate her marked points.”

“He knows where I am.” Steve shrugged. “I'll look through her files before I try to initiate contact. She made it sound like he wasn't ready to find me yet.”

“I'll let you hold onto this,” Jack smiled. “I'm going to get back to this.”

“I'm going to go talk to Tony about getting you your own computer,” Steve huffed, shoving the flash drive in his pocket.

“Oh, you don't have to do that. I'm perfectly fine sharing with you.”

“Yeah, except you're not sharing,” Steve replied dryly. Jack grinned and blew him a kiss with fingers that shook. “Hey, that reminds me. Do you have a flash drive of the stuff she stole from us?”

“Probably,” Jack hedged, glancing down at the computer on his lap.

“Are you going to share it with us?”

“Probably not,” Jack shrugged, clicking away.

“Can I ask why not?”

“Sure.”

“Why won't you share it with us?” Steve asked obligingly.

“Don't want to.” Jack shrugged. Steve sighed.

“You're killing me.” Steve sighed. “I'm going to go find a computer that I can actually use.”

“Later, Stevie,” Jack replied, not lifting his attention from the computer.

 

 


	23. Jack Gets Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team gangs up on Jack to get him the help he needs.

 

“Are you feeling okay?” Pepper asked Jack over dinner. He was pushing his meal around the plate, not really eating any of it.

“I'm fine.” Jack replied.

“You don't look fine.” Tony commented. He was pale, Steve decided. He'd lost weight, too. But that wasn't it – he just looked...sick.

“Have you been taking your medicine?” Steve asked, pushing his plate aside. Jack attempted to glare at him, but there was no heat in his expression.

“Yes, mom.”

“Let's see your other hand,” Clint said softly. Jack swallowed hard and brought his hand up from under the table. It was shaking.

“Christ, Jack.” Steve hissed. “What's wrong?”

“It's normal. It's fine. I'm fine.” Jack replied dismissively.

“You have your bag of “medicine” in my lab,” Bruce pointed out. “What is that for?”

“I can't use that yet.” Jack replied, clenching his jaw.

“Why not? What is it? We could make you some more.”

“I can't use it. It's all I have left. I need to save it for when it's bad.”

“We can make more,” Bruce said gently.

“You can't make more of this.” Jack dismissed.

“I can bring in Coulson's scientist, Simmons. She could help. It is kind of her specialty.”

“Drop it.” Jack growled, tossing his fork down. He shoved back from the table, his chair grating loudly against the floor. Without a word, he stalked from the room.

“What'd I say?” Bruce asked, glancing around the table.

“I'll go talk to him.” Steve said softly, getting up from the table. “Jarvis, where did he go?”

“Mr. Chang is in the stairwell.” Jarvis announced. “Might I add, his vitals are all over the place. I recommend seeking medical attention.”

“Damn,” Steve groaned, taking off for the stairwell. So much for taking care of him.

“I'll meet you in my lab!” Bruce called after him.

Steve dashed down the stairs, following the sound of Jack's heavy breathing. The heavy thump was what concerned him the most though. When Steve found Jack, he was having a seizure at the base of the stairs. Steve scooped him up and dashed to the lab.

“He's having a seizure,” Steve announced needlessly.

“Table,” Bruce said briefly, pointing over his shoulder. He finished slipping on a pair of gloves and turned to inspect Jack. Jack slumped heavily against the table as the seizure stopped. Bruce had taken all of his vital measurements when the man came back to consciousness.

“You're fine, huh?” Steve asked, brushing Jack's sweaty hair off his forehead.

“I'm okay.” Jack amended. Steve smirked slightly.

“You're just as stubborn as your sister.”

“I can't use the medicine yet.” Jack whispered.

“It sure looks like blood.” Bruce commented, pulling the bag from the fridge. “Care to tell me what's so special about it?”

“I don't know what's so special about it.” Jack replied with a shrug. “Skye gets it for me. Got it for me? It's the only thing that helps.”

“Helps what?” Bruce prodded gently.

“My side effects.” Jack whispered, letting his eyes drift shut. He was exhausted. He had been fighting this for too long. “My group...we had different side effects. I don't know if they gave us different serums or if we just handled it differently. Everyone else had theirs fixed...or they were bad enough that they were Erased. I wasn't that lucky.”

“Jack, you need to explain.” Bruce sighed.

“My pills help fight the everyday things. The smaller things. But, I get...overwhelmed. Too much stress causes a flare up. At least, that's what Skye always called it. This will take care of the flare up. But if I use it now, I won't have any more left.”

“I want you to use this now.” Bruce commanded softly. “Your vitals are all over the place. You're only going to get worse from here.”

“Doc...” Jack started to argue, but another seizure hit. Bruce rubbed his face, watching Steve hold Jack to the table.

“Just give it to him.” Steve grunted, holding the thrashing man. “You said you could make more.”

“I agree. He's worried about having it for later, but if we don't use it now there may not be a later.” Bruce sighed, grabbing an IV stand and hooking the bag up to it. “When the seizure is over, we'll strap him down. I'll start this drip while you get me his other medicine. I'll call Coulson later and see if I can borrow his biochem scientist. Between the two of us, maybe we'll be able to create a better treatment plan.”

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

Jack woke later that night feeling 110% better than he had earlier. He was still strapped down to a cold metal table, though someone (Steve, he suspected) had put a pillow under his head and covered him with a blanket. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw the empty bag hooked up to the IV stand and groaned loudly.

“Feeling better?” Bruce asked, walking back into his lab with a cup of tea.

“You used it.” Jack accused angrily.

“I did. Don't worry, I saved enough that Simmons and I can analyze and recreate it.” Bruce set his tea down and started unstrapping Jack. “Your vitals started improving almost immediately after I started the drip. Are you sure you don't know what's in that blood?”

“I don't know and I don't care.” Jack replied sullenly. His sister was gone and he felt on top of the world, physically at least.

“You said Skye got it for you.” Bruce commented, skipping around the question he wanted to ask.

“It's 47's blood.” Jack confessed softly. He was in no mood for his typical evasions. He had asked them not to use it and they didn't listen. Now, he had none left.

“ _The_ 47?” Bruce asked, raising an eyebrow. Jack nodded.

“There's something special about it. Something special about 47. That's why they're still after him.”

“I can see why, if just his blood cured you like it did.” Bruce nodded. He chewed on the end of his pen, then asked, “So Skye was in contact with 47? She must have left you a backup in case something happened to her. She's shown incredible foresight with her other plans.”

“I haven't seen anything. She never mentioned anything. It's not on any of the flash drives that she left me.”

“I'll let Tony know. He can look better than we can. He'll be happy that 47 is still alive. Maybe he can help us.” Bruce commented. Jack choked back a sob and sat up on the table.

“I'm going back to my floor. Good night, Bruce.” Jack whispered, heading for the elevator. Bruce watched him go, frowning at his attitude. He should be happy there was a lead for them to follow.

 

 


	24. If we could get 47 on board...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys discuss how Skye knows 47.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is a short chapter. I know. Sorry. But I need the cut off here.
> 
> As a heads up, only a few more chapters in this story. I'm working on part 3 - so hopefully it's done (or mostly done) by the time this story wraps up.
> 
> Also, I thought it was super cute when I named 1027 Steven - I have some joke/fluff points centered around it - but now it's just a pain in the behind (Steven's around a lot in part 3). So, I'm taking ideas for nicknames.

 

“How about we go get your van today?” Steve asked Jack over coffee. Steve had already run and did his gym time, but Jack was just rolling out of bed.

“M'kay.” Jack mumbled, pulling himself onto a stool.

“You feeling alright?” Steve asked, passing him a mug.

“Nothing caffeine can't fix,” Jack replied, smiling faintly. His mood had nothing to do with exhaustion; the blood would have him running at peak performance for a few days until it stabilized in his system. Right now, he didn't need sleep. Right now, he needed his sister.

It had been five days. Five impossibly long days without her. He had tried to remain hopeful at the beginning - hopeful that Tony Stark could do what Skye couldn't. But Centipede was just too good. Jack's initial certainty that she was gone - lost for good - had returned full force. Especially since he had spent the whole night going through Skye's files trying to find any clue to 47's whereabouts or the whereabouts of a blood stash. There was nothing.

Skye was gone.

47 was a ghost.

The only medicine that worked was used up.

The Avengers were useless.

There was no hope.

Now, on top of figuring out how to deal with the loss of his sister, he must now come to terms with his own mortality.

He was a selfish bastard.

“I didn't hear you come to bed,” Steve noted.

“He didn't leave the lab until nearly two.” Bruce commented, stumbling into the kitchen looking only slightly more chipper than Jack. Steve smiled at the pair and filled a mug for Bruce. “Did you know Skye got his medicine from 47?”

“What?” Steve asked, turning quickly to Jack. Jack suddenly was very interested in his coffee. “Did she leave us a location? If we could get 47 on board...”

“Don't waste your time.” Jack muttered.

“Why not?” Steve frowned. “It's a lead. If Skye knew where he was, then maybe she left us a clue.”

“She didn't.” Jack replied. “I looked.”

“You also didn't know about Bucky,” Steve countered.

“Bucky doesn't affect me.” Jack retorted. “Sorry, that sounds bad. I know he's important to you – but it doesn't matter to me...I mean, my health, if you found him or not. Skye would have left me something to find if she had something that did affect me. This would definitely fall into that category.”

“She does mother you, doesn't she?” Tony smirked, walking into the kitchen looking wide awake. That meant he hadn't been to bed at all. “Does that make you my grandson?”

“You're not that old, Pops.” Jack sighed.

“Skye got his medicine from 47.” Steve interjected before the conversation could get off topic.

“She knows 47?” Tony gasped, whirling around. “Wait...that means there's a trail somewhere. We can totally find him.”

“That's the plan.” Steve grinned. Jack sighed and rubbed his face. Bruce smiled and patted the man's back.

“You guys couldn't even find _us._ ”

“Does she know 47 from the compound?” Bruce asked, idly stirring his coffee. “Like, maybe they were in the same group?”

“Dude. 47 is in Gamma's bracket. Why are you so hung up on the idea of us coming from a group that far back?” Jack asked, exasperated.

“Tell us what group you did come from and we'll drop it.” Tony replied lightly. Bruce hid his smile behind his coffee mug. Jack would break eventually. No one could hold up to a Tony Stark interrogation – though, Jack had done quite well so far.

Steve already knew the truth; he couldn't resist peeking under Jack's watch when he was unconscious. Now that he knew, he couldn't help but feel stupid. He had known the answer since his morning run nearly a year ago.

“My whole group is dead. It doesn't matter what group I came from. You can't have a group of one.” Jack retorted bitterly.

“What about Skye?”

“Skye got me out.” Jack replied, frustration coloring his tone.

“Yeah, we know. But what group is she from?” Tony pressed.

“You don't understand. She got me out.” Jack replied, like repetition would clarify things.

“She wasn't from the compound?” Bruce asked, raising an eyebrow. Jack pointed a finger at Bruce.

“But...why are you so protective of her secrets if she's not from the compound?” Steve frowned.

“I'm not protective. I don't know them. I can tell you all about what happened with us every day after she came to get us...but I don't have the faintest idea about what happened before that.”

“So you never saw her before you got out?” Tony asked.

“Didn't say that, either.” Jack smirked. “She already knew 47 at that point. Probably how she knew about us. She'd come with bags of his blood and fix us up after particularly bad days.”

“How'd she know...”

“This is Skye we're talking about.” Jack smiled wryly. “You saw her hack and you're still asking how she knew about our bad days? We used to wave to the cameras when we were sad. Never knew if she'd be watching or not.”

“How do you know she's not from the compound?” Bruce asked after a minute. He hadn't seen Skye hack anything, but he had heard the stories. If Tony was impressed by her skill, he could only imagine how good she was.

“She's not.” Jack shrugged.

“Skye doesn't lie.” Steve nodded. “Evasions, diversions, distractions, yes. But she doesn't lie.”

“Everyone who receives the serum gets a tattoo.” Jack added, looking uncertain. “A number and a Greek letter. Skye doesn't have one. I looked.”

 

 


	25. Road Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Jack bring the van back to the Tower. Steve makes Jack talk to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I haven't had a chance to respond to some of the newer comments - I'm sorry. It's been busy with the Fourth. 
> 
> There are 5 chapters left in this story. (if I don't change anything).
> 
> I hope this chapter answers a few questions!

 

“Thanks, Tony.” Steve smiled before stepping out of the jet.

“No problem. See you back at the Tower.” Tony replied.

“You going to take a look at that thing I gave you?” Jack asked Tony, leaning in so Steve couldn't hear him. Steve couldn't help but smirk at his efforts; of course he heard him.

“It has my full attention,” Tony nodded, looking serious. Steve didn't press for information. If it affected him, he would find out about it soon enough. Tony waved and took off.

“Guess it's just you and me now,” Jack smirked, leaning against the side of his sister's beloved van. “Whatcha wanna do with all this privacy?”

“Let's get on the road. We can decide once we're moving.” Steve shrugged, ignoring Jack's flippancy. Jack was going to talk to him, but Steve wanted to make sure they were on the road before he started that conversation. Then he had nowhere to run. He would _have_ to talk.

“Wanna drive?” Jack grinned, waving the keys in his hand.

“It's probably best if you drive,” Steve muttered, ducking his head to hide his blush.

“Why?” Jack grinned. He hadn't been trying for a blush, but it hadn't gotten any less adorable.

“Never learned how to drive.” Steve muttered. “Couldn't afford it in the 30s, never had to during the war – unless you count a tank, and we tend to take the jet everywhere with the Avengers. If I need to go somewhere, I have my motorcycle – my license is only good for the motorcycle.”

“Oh, Christ,” Jack laughed, bending over and laughing heartily. “You're serious!”

“Yes, I'm serious.” Steve frowned.

“Sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you.” Jack grinned, trying to suppress his laughter for Steve's sake. “I just didn't expect that answer.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Steve muttered grumpily. Jack pressed his lips together and turned to the van.

“Would you like the grand tour?”

“Of the whole huge van?” Steve asked with sarcastic enthusiasm. Jack grinned and nodded. “Yes, absolutely.”

“This is Skye's pride and joy.” Jack smiled, stroking the van fondly. He had decided that just because Skye was gone, that didn't have to mean that she was forgotten. He would talk about her everyday if he had to. And damn it, he was going to stop being afraid to use her name.

He cleared his throat and opened the door with a flourish. Immediately within the doors, Skye had set up her system. Jack climbed in and disappeared around the side. Steve peered in and saw Jack tucked into a bunk. It was ingenious, really. One bunk was on the floor of the van, and they had rigged a system to suspend the second bunk above the other. Steve suspected that was Jack's work. The thick walls of the van were covered with pictures, mostly of the pair of them, though there were plenty of just one of them. Steve smiled and looked the pictures over.

“You guys look happy.” Steve commented, feeling Jack watching him.

“I hid the pictures that Skye takes of me when I'm pouting. God, there would be so many.” Jack sighed, smirking slightly. “I think I pout a lot. I don't know how Skye ever put up with me.”

“You grow on people,” Steve replied, offering a gentle smile. “I don't mind spending time with you as much as I used to.”

“Hey!” Jack gasped. “That really hurts!”

“Yeah, well. It helps that you stopped hitting on me, too.”

“Do I _exhaust you_?” Jack smirked. Steve groaned and buried his face in his hands.

“She promised.”

“No, she didn't. You just asked her to.” Jack laughed.

“You suck so hard.” Steve groaned, stealing Clint's phrase. Jack grinned and winked towards Steve.

“Wanna see how hard I can suck?”

“NO!” Steve shouted, scrambling from the van. “Get in. It's going to take us a long while to get back.”

“You're so much fun,” Jack chuckled. He closed up the side of the van and walked around the front to climb into the driver's seat.

“You said you were going to be less fabulous.” Steve muttered dryly.

“I'm not being fabulous. I'm being difficult. Not the same. Not the same at all.”

“Damn you and your sister and your stupid loopholes.” Steve sighed.

“Oh. Does that count as a curse word?” Jack grinned, putting the van in drive and taking off.

“Sometimes.” Steve smirked. “Definitely not when I'm with you.”

“You need something stronger for me?”

“Got it in one.”

“So, is this your first road trip?” Jack grinned, raising his eyebrows.

“Road trip?” Steve asked, frowning with confusion.

“Yes, Steve.” Jack sighed. “An extended car ride. We'll have to stop for snacks. You can browse the mix CDs and find one you like.”

“They're not labeled.” Steve sighed after a minute of flipping through a binder of CDs.

“Sure they are.” Jack sighed. “Mix 1, Mix 2...”

“You have a million mixes!” Steve interrupted. Jack rolled his eyes at him, so he flipped to the end of the binder. “Fine. You have 127 mixes.”

“The oldest stuff is in front, the more recent stuff is in the back. It's not hard, Steven.” Jack sighed, shaking his head.

“Steven is a little boy,” Steve replied sticking his tongue out. Jack laughed and pulled into the gas station.

“Let me show you how to prepare for a road trip.”

“It's only like a five hour drive. Six, tops.” Steve deadpanned.

“Shut up and get out of the car or I'm picking for you.”

“It's a van,” Steve smirked, getting out regardless.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“So, I have a confession to make.” Steve said after an hour of some awful mix music. Even Jack wasn't singing along any more, so Steve assumed he was just as done with it as he was.

“Now that you know what a road trip is, you really have been on one before?” Jack smiled.

“Nah.” Steve replied, shaking his head. “I've been on convoys though. Not as fun.”

“So, what's your confession then?” Jack asked, taking a bite of his Twizzlers.

“I took advantage of you...”

“Oh my God! I knew you had the hots for me! I knew it!!!” Jack practically screamed, bouncing up and down in his seat. He glanced over at Steve and took in his serious expression. “No?”

“Not even a little bit,” Steve replied.

“Damn. Fine, how did you take advantage of me, then?” Jack huffed.

“When you were unconscious, I looked under your watch.” Steve offered slowly. Jack stiffened and turned slowly to look at Steve. “Watch the road!”

“You did what?” Jack asked incredulously.

“Looked under your watch. I was tired of your evasions. I know it was wrong, which is why I'm telling you, but I don't regret it.”

Jack was silent for a long time, three songs at least. He chewed on his lip and another Twizzlers, then used another to make a straw for his soda. Finally, he sighed and relaxed his somewhat tense posture.

“I knew I couldn't keep it a secret forever.”

“We pretty much knew anyway, based on your reactions. You flat out denied Skye's involvement, but you couldn't do the same for yourself.”

“We don't lie.” Jack muttered.

“I know, that's why I believed you when you said Skye wasn't Delta...but I've seen her tattoo.”

“The trinity?” Jack asked, cocking his head. Steve murmured his agreement. Jack sighed. “Huh. She doesn't normally show people.”

“I met her when she was running. Her shirt didn't quite cover it.” Steve offered. “I didn't put together that it looks a whole lot like the Greek letter Delta until I saw yours.” Steve waited for Jack to say something, but he didn't so Steve continued. “So I'm wondering if you lied about lying...”

“I didn't lie. Skye's not Delta. She's not.”

“Then explain the tattoo.”

“She's...honorary? I guess. She got us out. Took a bullet for her efforts. That's why it's on her shoulder, not her wrist. It's blue cause...the sky is blue?” Jack admitted, sounding slightly embarrassed. Steve ducked his head and smiled. Skye blue. The two rode in silence for a few more miles.

“But Delta was so long ago.” Steve commented. Jack looked over with a wry expression.

“Makes it convenient for denying, huh?”

“I don't understand _how_.” Steve admitted. “Is it the serum?”

“No.” Jack snorted. “Delta wasn't the roaring success the rest of the groups think it was. It's been exaggerated through the years. Comparatively, yes. For what they wanted, we were the closest they ever got. But...we weren't a success. Skye brought us a lot of blood. Actually, that's probably why they thought we did so well. Huh.”

“Skye...” Steve said softly, rolling her name around his mouth. How had he forgotten that detail? If Jack was from Delta, and he knew Skye while he was in Delta...she was as old as him. Older, probably. How the hell did that work?

“47's blood,” Jack replied. Steve blinked blankly at him. “You asked that out loud.”

“Oh. So what's so special about that blood?” Steve asked.

“I honestly have no idea.” Jack shrugged. “All I know is Skye gets it for me when I'm hurt or ill. She'll use it too, if she needs it. It's the only thing that's consistent between us, the blood that is. I have the serum. She doesn't. The whole...healing...thing...must be the blood. It's too hard to deny the results.”

“Based on the very limited data I saw, I would have to agree.” Steve nodded. “Bruce is taking a closer look at the blood. He can tells us if anything is special about it.”

“And make more?” Jack asked. “Cause, really...if he can't...well, I'm fucked. And I'm not being dramatic.”

“Your side effects are that bad?” Steve asked softly, taking a Twizzler. He didn't really want to eat it, but he nibbled on the end anyway.

“Not really. My medicine takes care of most of the issues...the big ones for sure. I'm on anti-seizure medication, for obvious reasons. Blood thinner, because my blood is too thick and clots up in stupid ways. Insulin, occasionally. Sometimes my pancreas doesn't like to work. We looked into getting it removed, cause you don't _need_ it. But we couldn't find a reliable doctor that would do it under the table. Nothing else too major – migraines, digestive issues. But the serum absolutely fucked my immunity.”

“So the blood heals your smaller issues and keeps you young, but can't solve your immunity issue?” Steve asked.

“Not permanently, at least. Stupid, right?” Jack sighed. Steve hummed his agreement and turned to stare out the window. After almost half an hour of silence, Steve turned back to Jack.

“So, how old were you when Skye broke you out? What year was it?”

“I was ten-ish. My concept of time was messed up; we didn't keep track of minutes or hours or days.”

“She broke you out when you were ten!?” Steve asked incredulously.

“Me and 14 other kids.” Jack smiled. “You keep saying she mothered me. Really, you have no idea.”

“Do you have any pictures?” Steve asked grinning. He needed a minute to wrap his head around this new news.

“Glove box.” Jack smirked. Steve rifled around, pulling out expired (and forged, he suspected) registration tags and proof of insurance. At the bottom, there was a small box. It was covered in faded stickers and marker. Steve pulled it out and carefully lifted the lid. This was precious to Jack. The top picture showed a nearly toothless Jack, grinning next to Skye. She looked almost identical to how Steve knew her. Her face was slightly rounder, a little less mature, but besides that...

“God, you were a cute kid.” Steve commented, swallowing hard.

“Thanks,” Jack preened, reaching over to eject the CD.

“What happened?” Steve continued, laughing at Jack's shocked face.

“That's really rude, Stevie!” Jack gaped.

“Sorry, I couldn't resist.” Steve laughed, shuffling through the pictures. There were tons of pictures of kids that Steve didn't recognize. “Group Delta?”

“Yep.” Jack replied, clearing his throat. “Some days, it really doesn't seem worth it.”

“What's not worth it?” Steve asked, twisting in his seat to face Jack.

“Skye breaking us out. I mean, we ruined her life.” Jack frowned. “She always insisted she didn't mind. Even when we were at our worst, she never gave up on us. Even when she was mad, she never took it out on us. And trust me, sometimes we deserved it. Some of us were rotten.”

“It was her choice to make,” Steve murmured. “She didn't have to break you out.”

“It wasn't like she could change her mind,” Jack muttered. “They had seen her. She was marked. Even if she got rid of us, hid us away, put us in the system, something...she wouldn't be safe. We ruined her chance at a normal life. And now we got her killed.”

Jack pulled over abruptly, making the cars behind them honk angrily. He rested his head against the steering wheel, but Steve couldn't tell if he was crying or not.

“We don't know...” Steve started.

“Drop it.” Jack murmured, firmly. Steve bit his lip, struggling to do as Jack asked. After a few long minutes of deafening silence, Steve had had enough.

“Tell me about your favorite memory,” Steve asked. Jack twisted his head on the steering wheel, smiling wryly at him.

“I have to pick one?”

“You can tell me stories all the way back.” Steve offered.

“One teenager hauling fourteen kids around is kind of suspicious,” Jack told Steve, smiling.

“How old was Skye?”

“Eighteen. As you can tell, she hasn't really changed much, so it's hard to tell if she was being honest or not. We had the theory that the blood works better after you're finished growing. Even with the blood, we kept aging until we were mature. Skye was already mature, she didn't have as much change.” Jack explained. “It was nice. I wouldn't want to be stuck in a ten year old body.”

“It would be hard to hit on people,” Steve nodded, mock seriously.

“We drew some attention, at first.” Jack smirked, continuing his story. “Finally, we made shirts and pretended to be part of a school outing. Skye was our teacher and we were her class. It was way easier to blend in that way.”

“Please tell me there's a picture,” Steve laughed lightly.

“There should be one in there somewhere.” Jack nodded, finally pulling back out onto the road.

“This one?” Steve asked, showing Jack the picture. Each child was in a bright blue shirt marked _Private School of Gifted and Talented._

“We were going to the museum.” Jack nodded, smiling softly. “Wasn't the best idea. After a while we got bored and tried to climb the dinosaurs. Skye was so embarrassed.”

“That explains her face,” Steve nodded, looking at Skye's expression in the picture.

“What you don't see is the security guard directly to her left, escorting us off the premises.”

“Oh, no!” Steve chuckled. They both smiled and fell silent again. “Since you've shown me pictures of Delta, can we see the file now?”

“There's nothing too interesting on the file.” Jack shrugged. “I've looked at the other files, they're pretty similar. Swap out our serum formula and our own unique set of side effects and our file is identical to the others. Skye just didn't want you to recognize me in the photos, that's why she took it.”

“So, yes?” Steve pressed.

“Sure.” Jack shrugged.

“Is that what Tony is looking at?” Steve asked.

“Damn super hearing.” Jack muttered grumpily. “No, it's not what he's looking at.”

“What is he looking at then?”

“We'll see if he can get into it.” Jack offered, not wanting to deny him flat out.

“You can't break Skye's encryption?” Steve asked, frowning. Jack hadn't had issues with the other files.

“Not the ones she doesn't want me to,” Jack replied. He could feel Steve's stare boring into the side of his head. He winced and turned to glance at his passenger. “What? She's damn good at what she does. Besides, if she hadn't taught me specifically how to get around her lower encryptions, I wouldn't be able to get past those either. I'm good with machines – mechanics. The whole computer thing is really beyond me.”

“You're not going to tell me what the file is?” Steve asked slowly.

“Not yet.” Jack replied softly. Then he abruptly changed subjects. “Dude, once – and only once – Skye took us to one of those indoor trampoline places. It was the most fun I've ever had. We should do that sometime.”

 

 


	26. Lock Down Mode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack shows off his van to Steve, and the two play a little joke on Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Life...just, life. Apologies.

 

“Can I ask you a question?” Steve asked after a few silent miles.

“You're going to do it anyway,” Jack grinned. He felt like a million pounds had been lifted from his shoulders. They knew – everything he knew at least. He didn't have to worry about keeping Skye a secret, or Group Delta...or 47's magic blood. He really needed Tony to crack Skye's encryption so he could see what was in the file labeled 47. He didn't have too much hope, but it was worth a shot. If they could find 47...well, he was getting ahead of himself.

“Skye mentioned putting the van in lock down. What does that mean?”

“Oh, my God. It's amazing.” Jack grinned and bounced up and down in his van. “You know how Tony gets all proud of his work? Well, this is my baby. I mean, it's Skye's...but the upgrades? Me. All me. Let me pull over, I'll show you.”

“Okay,” Steve smiled, liking his enthusiasm. He was really expecting a special locking mechanism.

“Okay, you're going to have to get out.” Jack beamed, glad that he could finally show off his projects. Technically, some of it was Shield's...but he had adapted it, okay? “First, I'll show you the walls. Notice how thick they are?”

“Not really...” Steve shrugged. He had never been in a van like this.

“Okay, well they're thick.” Jack sighed. “Just go with it. That's because I specially reinforced the whole van. It's bulletproof, to some extent. It won't hold up in a firefight from all sides, but we're fucked if that happens anyway.”

“Show me?”

“Look,” Jack smiled, pulling a few pictures away from the side of the van. Now Steve could see how thick the walls were. They would have more room on the inside without the thick metal plating. “I didn't have the best welding ability back then, so it turned out kind of ugly. We always liked having pictures up, so we just covered it.”

“But this isn't a lock down. Lock down implies it's not permanent.” Steve pointed out.

“There are special locking mechanisms within the door, which would prevent it from being opened from the outside. That's why Skye was so pissed when I was brought in to the Tower. You guys wouldn't have been able to get in, if I had the van in lock down like I was supposed to.” Jack frowned, thinking about how his sister had gone off on him. She very rarely yelled, but he could count on one hand how many times she had yelled at _him_. He wondered if they would still be in New York, playing pranks on Tony Stark, if he hadn't been so colossally stupid.

“Things might be very different, huh?” Steve murmured, unknowingly echoing Jack's thoughts.

“Can I show you the best part?” Jack continued, ignoring Steve's question. He didn't want to think about how he got his sister killed.

“I would love to see it,” Steve nodded warmly.

“Skye wasn't satisfied with just the armor. She wanted the best for us. For me.” Jack stopped to clear his throat, but forced a smile and continued. He ducked his head and whispered to Steve, “She hacked Shield.”

“Of course she did.”

“Step back, I'll turn it on.” Jack grinned, running around to the front of the van again. There was a small click, then the van disappeared. Steve could still the the inside, because the doors were open, but the outside of the van was gone. Jack came back around and laughed at Steve's shocked expression. “She stole some cloaking technology. I mean, blue prints. I had to figure out how to adapt them to a van and then build it.”

“Whoa!” Steve laughed, closing the side door for a full impression. If you knew where to look, there was some blurring around the edges of where he knew the van to be. “Nice work, Jack!”

“Think Tony will like it?” Jack asked, shyly.

“I think we can scare the crap out of him when we get back.”

“God, I like where your head is at.”

“Get in the van.” Steve grinned. “We still have an hour until we're back.”

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“Jarvis, would you get Tony?” Jack grinned, beaming over at Steve. Steve smirked back, amused by just how amused Jack was.

“He is on his way down.” Jarvis supplied helpfully.

“And go time.” Jack whispered, hitting the button that activated the cloaking mechanism. A few seconds later, Tony stepped out of the elevator and glanced around his garage. He frowned and wandered down a line of cars, running a hand down their sleek sides as he walked past.

“Jarvis?” Tony asked, finally.

“Sir?”

“I thought you said Jack needed me.”

“He requested your presence.” Jarvis agreed.

“Is he back yet?” Tony sighed, pinching his nose. Jack covered his mouth, trying to muffle the giggle that was building.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Jarvis. Where is he?”

“Sir, I believe that you will locate Mister Chang directly to your left.”

Tony turned to his left, staring at the van – though he was far enough away that he couldn't walk into it. Tony huffed and threw his hands up.

“I'm not in the mood for hide and seek!” Tony shouted impatiently, then headed back to the elevator. Jack scrambled for something between the seats, laughing quietly.

“Staaark!” Jack giggled into a microphone. Steve heard his voice reverberate from somewhere on top of the van and couldn't help but chuckle. Tony whirled around. “Starkie Poo?”

“Jackson Herbert, you get out here right now.” Tony threatened, pointing a finger towards the floor by his feet.

“Oh, Jackson Herbert.” Jack giggled into the microphone. “Stevie, he broke out the full name.”

“Anthony Edward Stark!” Steve supplied, barking out Tony's full name in his best Captain America voice.

"How do you know my full name?" Tony asked, his eyes narrowed.

“Come find us, _Anthony_.” Jack giggled.

“Jack, when I find you...”

“Stark, honestly. I'm in a big, blue van. I don't understand why you can't just come get me.”

“You're in the van?” Tony scoffed skeptically.

“Well, yeah. We just got back.”

“Yeah, road trip Tony.” Steve agreed.

“Steve, you know Captain America can't lie,” Tony huffed, stalking forward. Steve grinned and reached over to honk the horn.

“It's a big van, Anthony.” Steve laughed, elbowing Jack when Tony headed in the opposite direction of the van. The garage was too big and there were too many cars for him to judge where the honk came from.

“Um, cold. Starkie.” Jack laughed. “Capsicle cold.”

“Starkie?” Tony asked, turning on the spot to head back. “Do all of your nicknames include an -ie at the end?”

“Hmm, well...asshole seemed just a tich rude.” Jack replied, knowing Tony was keeping him talking to figure out where the sound was coming from. Tony snorted his amusement and adjusted his approach. “Getting warmer, Starkie.”

“Damn it, Jack. I have things to do.” Tony groaned. Steve could tell he was intrigued though, enough that he wasn't quite ready to give up his search.

“Come on Stark, we both know you can't find her.” Jack retorted quickly. “A little distraction every now and then is a good thing. Let's get some new brain juice flowing.”

Right about then, Tony walked head first into the van.

“What the fuck?” Tony cursed, rubbing his forehead. He reached out and patted the van, then banged on it heavily just to hear the empty echo from within.

“Hey, Starkie.” Jack smirked, rolling his window down.

“Lock down mode?” Tony asked almost instantly, stepping back to take in the full effect.

“Lock down mode.” Steve confirmed, leaning over Jack to smile at Tony.

“Turn it off,” Tony grinned. Jack chuckled and obliged. Tony waved his hand impatiently. “Back on.”

“You should recognize it.” Jack admitted after a small silence. “The original blueprints came from Shield, though I tinkered a bit.”

“Same basic technology as the Quinjet cloaking?” Tony asked, stepping forward to get a better look at the paneling.

“Yeah. Our very rough draft was just video mirroring,” Jack shrugged. “It got the job done in a pinch, but wasn't terribly effective.”

“Hmm, you would have to pray for good weather and a solid backdrop.” Tony nodded. He circled the van, asking a scientifically advanced question as he went.

“And I'm out,” Steve smiled, ducking out of the conversation. He would be back later. He would make time to look at all the pictures. Jack and Tony smiled back, waving him away without stopping their conversation.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, four chapters left.


	27. Day at the Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers and Agents of Shield take the children to the park.

 

“Hey Trip,” Steve smiled, extending his hand towards the specialist. “Nice of you to join us.”

“Are you kidding me? This sounds like a blast,” Trip grinned. “It's kind of sad that you two are the first ones to think of this, though.”

“They didn't get outside time,” Jack shrugged, adjusting his scarf. It was June, and much too hot for a scarf, but Jack didn't go anywhere without it. He did however, settle for wrapping it around his waist like a belt instead of tying it around his neck.

“I brought some baseball stuff,” Ward offered, joining their group. “In case they get bored at the park.”

“Really?” Steve asked, smiling at the specialist. He didn't seem the type.

“Hey, I have siblings.” Ward laughed, tossing a baseball to Steve. He turned to look at Jack. “I understand if you want to sit out, though.”

“Oh really?” Jack snorted. “Just because I'm not an alpha male with arms the size of trees and the glorious ass of a granite statue, doesn't mean that I don't have the hand-eye coordination to play some ball.”

“Um...what?” Ward asked, flushing bright red. Jack grinned and slapped Ward's ass as he walked away.

“I'll see you on the field, gorgeous.”

“He's the one Coulson's been talking about, huh?” Trip chuckled. “The one that introduced himself as your boyfriend?”

“Yeah, that's Jack.”

“Is he really your boyfriend?” Ward asked, still red.

“Only at headquarters.” Steve replied, grinning. Trip laughed out loud. He had heard the rumors circulating about Steve's sexuality.

“He's your source though, right?” Ward pressed.

“Yeah,” Steve replied, frowning. In his head he was replying, _One of our sources_. But he wasn't in the mood or emotionally stable enough to bring Skye up without losing his shit, so he left her out of it. This was supposed to be a happy day; it was for the kids. “He was the one that drew the blueprints for the compound the kids came from.”

“And the one who hacked Tony's suit and the plane?” Trip asked, grinning. He loved hearing about things that Tony Stark couldn't do – because there weren't very many...unless you counted having people skills. Cause, he didn't really have those.

“Hey! We're all ready,” Steven grinned, running up to Steve. He used Steve's bent knee to launch himself up, then flip onto the man's shoulders. Steve didn't so much as flinch. He had come to expect as much from him.

“Well, let's get on the bus then!” Steve replied, grinning up at the small boy on his shoulders. Steve hurried towards the bus, hoping Trip would forget about his question. Steve didn't like lying, but he would do it for Skye. Jack was already on the bus, claiming a seat in the middle. Steve and his shadow sat across from him, taking up the whole seat.

“Sound off!” Jack called. The children rattled off their numbers, going group by group. This was Group Tau's first outing since their deprogramming. They were completely different kids now. He understood why the programming was necessary to make them aggressive. The kids, the oldest on the bus, were cheerful and friendly. They were warm and had appeared to take some of the younger children under their watch. Or maybe it was the other way around; Steve couldn't tell. Once the woman with the clipboard marked everyone in, they were ready to leave headquarters.

The bus ride was eventful. They had to drive for nearly an hour to get to a park that Shield had been able to rent out for the day. They didn't want any unknowns interacting with the children, so Shield agents were already on site making sure the park stayed clear. Trip started bus songs twenty minutes into the ride; the children enjoyed finding out which group could shout back the lyrics the loudest. Group Chi won, of course. The entire group acted like puppies on sugar. When Trip got tired of chanting, the bus driver put on a CD of kid-appropriate songs. The children picked up the lyrics quickly and were singing along in no time. To say the bus ride was loud would be an understatement and Steve was glad to escape the confines of the bus.

They found a surprise at the park: the rest of Coulson's team and the Avengers. Simmons and Pepper were setting up a table with water and lemonade. It was a warm day and they planned to stay outdoors for a while. Coulson was setting up a grill while Tony and Clint watched. Apparently they were making a picnic out of the day. Steve grinned his approval. The grin faded when he realized how much Skye would enjoy this. He glanced at Tony, noticing his frown for the first time. He wondered what they had to do to drag him from his lab. Bruce wasn't present, so he was probably still in his lab analyzing whatever was in the dart or the magic blood. They could drag Tony from his lab; the worst that would happen was a drone robot attacking you. They couldn't do the same for Bruce...no one was confident enough to fight off the Hulk if they made Bruce angry.

The children ran off the bus yelling and screaming. Okay, Group Chi ran off the bus yelling and screaming. Groups Upsilon and Tau followed at a more leisurely pace, and without the screaming. Tasha sidled up to Steve, wincing.

“You rode for an hour with them?” She asked.

“It was loud,” Steve nodded. “Trip didn't help.”

“It's a rite of passage.” Trip laughed, wandering by with Steven and another small boy attached to his ankles. “You have to do bus songs on a bus!”

“It was fun!” Steven agreed.

“Well, that's all that matters then,” Tasha replied, smiling.

Over the next two hours, the children wore themselves and the agents out with a vigorous game of tag. When Steve finally called the game for lunch, the older members were grateful for the reprieve.

“I can run for miles,” Ward gasped, bending over to catch his breath. “Miles. But this? This is a whole new kind of workout.”

“It doesn't help that they're teaming up against us,” Trip added, dumping a bottle of water over his head. Steven grinned and laughed.

“It's funny watching you struggle, old man.”

“Old!?” Trip gasped. “Old! I'm not even thirty!”

“Well, that's old.” Steven responded, cutting in the line to stand by Steve.

“How old do you think I am?” Steve asked, struggling to keep a straight face.

“Younger than him.” Steven replied, pointing to Trip.

“Up,” Ward groaned, stretching. “Way up.”

“Thirty?” Steven guessed. “You can't be older than that. You're too fast to be old.”

“Way older.” Trip laughed.

“I give up. Just tell me.” Steven sighed.

“94.” Steve fake whispered.

“There's no way you're 94.” Steven giggled, poking Steve's side.

“I was born in 1920.” Steve replied seriously. “I'll be 95 in July.”

“Balls,” Steven gasped, looking Steve over more closely.

“Remember my number?” Steve asked. The boy nodded. “World War II was going on. I wanted to fight, but was too little.”

“Too little!”

“And sick.” Steve nodded. “So I kept trying to get in, until finally a scientist recruited me for a special program. I got a serum, kind of like you did. Except, mine worked. Made me like this.”

“You volunteered for this?” Steven asked softly. “Why?”

“It was important to me to help. I couldn't help how I wanted to – so I settled for the second best option. My only option, really.”

“But what if it went wrong? You could have...”

“I trusted the scientist. He was a good man.”

“What happened to him?” Steven asked.

“He died. Someone shot him after his serum worked; they tried to run off with the serum.”

“So the serum made you a super soldier?” Steven asked.

“Right.”

“Is that why they took us?” Steven asked, ducking his head. “You said they tried to take the serum. Since they failed, they had to make their own...”

“I don't know, buddy.” Steve replied honestly. “It may have been what they were trying to recreate. We just don't know, not yet.”

“And topic change,” Clint sighed, cutting in front of a few specialists to join Steve. “You guys always have the most depressing topics of conversation.”

“Always?” Steven asked, giving Clint a hard look. “Name one example.”

“Hey, look...the line is moving.” Clint laughed, shoving the boy forward in line.

“I win.” Steven replied smugly, punching Clint lightly.

“Baseball after lunch?” Ward asked. “I can't do more tag.”

“We don't know the rules.” Steven shrugged. “But you can teach us. We catch on fast.”

“You can't play right after you eat, anyway.” Steve agreed, handing the boy a plate.

“30 minutes, I know.” Steven replied, then turned to roll his eyes at Clint. They both grinned when Steve looked at them suspiciously.

“I don't even want to know.” Steve sighed.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“Jack can be captain,” Ward offered, handing a ball off to Jack. Jack huffed dramatically, but adjusted his scarf and grabbed for the ball.

“You're going down, _agent_.” Jack bit out, annoyed.

“Have you played baseball before?” Steve asked softly, turning his back so Ward didn't hear the question.

“Um...once.” Jack whispered back. “But my hand-eye coordination is pretty good.”

“Okay,” Steve grinned. This would be interesting.

The two captains divided up the group of children, agents, and Avengers that wanted to play until everyone was on a team.

“Let's play ball!” Clint shouted, throwing a water balloon at Jack. The children behind Clint were armed with their own balloons and started pelting the unassuming members. Tasha and Pepper discretely pointed out garbage bins to Steve, so he grabbed Jack and Steven and headed that way. The bins were full of water balloons.

By the time they got around to playing baseball, everyone was soaked. The playground was covered in bright pieces of rubber that would have to get cleaned up at some point, but that was besides the fact. The children were beaming, and that was all that mattered today. Steve saw Tony stalking off towards a car, tablet in hand. He let him go, giving him a break from the day.

For Steve, the hardest part about Skye being missing was the fact that he couldn't do a damn thing until he had somewhere to go. He was realistic about that fact. Tony was going to be the one to find her. Tony or Jack, who Steve knew was looking – even though he claimed he wasn't. Steve had caught a peek of satellite surveillance of the air strip Jack had told them about on day one, but couldn't figure out why he was watching that strip. He trusted them to do whatever they had to do to find her. Just like he trusted Tasha and Clint to do whatever they had to do to find the merc that had taken that hit on Skye. He was frustratingly good at hiding though.

Steve wasn't paying attention to the last bit of the baseball game; his mind was on Tony. He couldn't help but wonder if he was having any luck. There was a loud _“Oh!”_ from everyone around, making Steve's head whip up. Ward was on the pitcher's mound, bent over. Steve ran up to him, barely noticing Jack running a victory lap around the bases. The ball lay forgotten near the pitcher's mound.

“I hope you don't mind if I don't sit out!” Jack called as he ran to home. He jumped on the plate and cheered. He had just won them the game.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked, bending over to talk to Ward.

“Got me right in the bits.” Ward groaned.

Steve patted Ward's back, then walked away laughing.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm just not ready to let this story go yet. That's my lame excuse for the spotty updates. 
> 
> 3 chapters left.


	28. Early Birthday Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Jack get to give Tony an early birthday present.

 

When they got back from their day at the park, the entire team was exhausted. Tony was even more grumpy because he had lost a whole day in his labs and because he had to deal with children. Clint, Tasha, Jack, and Steve were exhausted from playing with the children all day. Between the playground equipment, baseball and the water balloon fight, the children would sleep well that night. The Avengers certainly would.

“I'll be in my lab,” Tony growled, stalking off. Pepper shook her head and followed him off the elevator.

“Good night guys,” She smiled. “The kids enjoyed themselves, at the very least.”

“Night, Pepper.” The rest chorused, getting off on the main floor. They had discussed food and then bed.

“Mr. Rogers, you have a package waiting for you on your floor.” Jarvis told him helpfully.

“Who is it from?” Steve asked, frowning. He never ordered anything. He didn't understand why you would order something online and then wait for it to be shipped to you when you could just go out to the store and buy it yourself.

Jarvis was silent.

“I'll go with you,” Jack shrugged. “I'm not so hungry anyway.”

He had been cheerful, happy even, at the park with the kids. But on the way home he had fallen silent, no doubt thinking about his sister. She would have loved messing around with the children. Once they were on their floor, Jarvis chimed in again.

“You're not to let Sir know about this package.”

“What?” Steve and Jack asked, whipping their heads up towards the ceiling. Skye was the only person who would have the power to tell Jarvis that message.

“Is this from Skye?” Jack asked.

“I suggest you open it and find out,” Jarvis replied.

“What?” Steve asked again, half running to the table where the package lay. His brain wasn't able to form any other words. What had she sent them? _When_ had she sent it?

He looked at the return address on the box. Sure enough, Skye had sent it – as Annie Walker. Steve took a deep breath to calm himself.

He ripped the box open, foregoing the tape and tearing the side of the box off. Then he pulled out a slightly crooked pillow. It was a giant, blue, lowercase E, hand stitched by the looks of it. She had sewn _THE BIG, BLUE E DOESN'T EVEN COUNT AS INTERNET!_ onto the edge of the pillow in lopsided letters. Jack and Steve stared at the pillow, Jack with confusion and Steve with wonder.

“I don't get it.” Jack commented, running a hand down the soft fabric.

“We were pranking Tony. Someone deleted the internet from my computer.” Steve answered distractedly. “You didn't see her do this?”

“No.” Jack replied, shaking his head. “But she always likes to have a project. Maybe she figured she got as much information on your friend as she was going to get.”

“Tony's birthday is in a few days,” Steve sighed. He looked in the box again, this time finding a small handwritten note.

 

_Oh Glorious Prank Assistant,_

_My fingers are bleeding and it definitely isn't neat, but I'm damn proud of this piece of art. Would you wrap it up for me, for Tony's birthday? It can be our gift to him – after all, this prank was mostly you. Do a nice job with the wrapping and we just might join you for birthday dinner. :)_

_Love,_

_S_

“She sent this before she was taken,” Jack pointed out, showing Steve the post mark on the box. “She told me his birthday was next week, when she sent me away. I assumed she meant she would join us by then. God, was I wrong.”

“Damn.” Steve sighed, hugging the pillow. It was soft and just the right amount of fluffy. It wasn't professional, but it was thoughtful. Tony would love it. “You didn't see her make this?”

“Nope,” Jack repeated.

“Tony's seen the footage from the bunker. He would have said something if he found this.”

“This is Skye we're talking about here. If she wanted it to be a secret, she would have just deleted stuff off the tape. I know she's edited some other stuff out.”

“Like what?”

“Like...I don't want to tell you?” Jack smirked half-heartedly. “She erased it for a reason.”

“Think she would mind if we give it to him a few days early?” Steve asked, with a small smile.

“You didn't wrap it.” Jack pointed out.

“We can just give it to him in the box,” Steve shrugged. “He won't care.”

“There's another note in here,” Jack nodded, picking the box up. The note fluttered to the ground by his feet. This one had Tony's name written on the outside. They silently put the pillow and note in the box and got back in the elevator.

“Jarvis, could you ask Tony if we could come up?” Steve asked.

“Of course, Mr. Rogers.” Jarvis was silent for a moment before running the elevator up to Tony's lab.

“Since when do you ask permission to come up?” Tony asked, hunched over his computer.

“Weren't sure where you were.” Steve shrugged.

“We have something for you.” Jack added. Tony shook his head.

“I'm not hungry.”

“It's an early birthday present,” Jack smiled.

“I don't want any presents,” Tony snorted.

“You'll want this one.”

“It's from Skye.” Steve added softly.

“What?” Tony asked, spinning from his chair at an alarming speed.

“She sent it before she was taken.” Steve was quick to add.

“Um...I'm not sure I can...” Tony whispered, clenching his hands together in front of him.

“You'll like it, I promise.” Steve smiled, holding the box out.

“He was supposed to wrap it,” Jack commented dryly.

“From Skye?” Tony asked again, sounding like a lost little boy. Steve smiled encouragingly and placed the box in his hands. Tony looked up at Steve with wide eyes, then reached into the box. He pulled out the pillow and choked back a sob. “I should have known she was involved with this.”

“Yeah, you should have.” Steve replied softly.

“She made this for me?”

“I certainly didn't do it.” Steve laughed. “She mentioned stabbing herself a few times. She's pretty proud of it.”

“I think there's some blood here,” Tony nodded, tracing the letters with a fingertip. “Fucking internet explorer.”

“She mentioned coming for birthday dinner.” Jack commented, not entirely understanding.

“What?” Tony asked, looking up at Steve. The pillow was clutched to his chest.

“I invited her to your birthday. I told her she could pick the place, anywhere, and we would get you there. That way we could see her and she would still feel safe.” Steve admitted, swallowing hard. There was a lump in his throat that was threatening to choke him.

“You did that for me?” Tony asked, frowning. Steve grinned.

“Yeah. Well, I mean...there was a little selfish motivation behind it too.”

“How come I never heard about this?” Jack sighed, tossing up his hands.

“She wasn't sure you guys were going to come.” Steve replied. “In fact, this is the only indication she ever gave me that she was actually considering coming.”

“I was going to see her on my birthday,” Tony whispered, pressing his face into the pillow. Jack nodded his head towards the door. Steve nodded his agreement and they backed towards the elevator.

“There's a note for you in there.” Jack added before the elevator door closed on them. Tony waited until he was sure they had gone before reaching back into the box. They knew he was fighting tears, but that didn't mean they had to see him cry. He had a touch of pride left.

_Happy Birthday, Dad!_

_So I know you're turning like a million or something this year, but you're still a kid at heart. Just keep telling that to the gray hairs in your beard. In honor of your favorite internet browser, I have created this lopsided masterpiece. Pardon the blood. I tried to get it out._

_Miss you,_

_S_

Tony sat down where he was, clutching the pillow to his chest. He cried into the pillow, smelling the faint fragrance that Skye wore. No one had ever made him something like this before. He was going to get to see her, but that chance was gone. She was gone.

He understood Jack's certainty when she first went missing. The Centipede retrieval team was good. Very good. He couldn't find her. Without a new lead, her trail was quickly turning cold. Ice cold.

He wasn't going to give up though.

Damn it. He would find her.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two (kind of short) chapters left. Eek


	29. Harsh Realizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack shares something he had been keeping from Steve.

 

“She should have come with me,” Jack cried into Steve's shoulder. He had given up even trying to sleep in the guest room. He just went to bed with Steve every night. Steve was pretty sure Tony knew about them sharing the bed, but hadn't said anything. He was grateful for that. He was also grateful Jack hadn't tried anything, even jokingly – Steve wasn't sure he could handle that.

“I know,” Steve murmured, running his hand down Jack's back. He had seen Skye doing the same thing in the video, so he copied her calming techniques.

“She knew. She knew they were coming.” Jack sobbed. “Why didn't she come? I could have taken care of her until the sedation wore off.”

“Maybe she couldn't come,” Steve mumbled sleepily. Jack realized what he said at the same time that Steve heard his words. They both sat up quickly.

“Maybe she couldn't come,” They repeated.

“Did Bruce ever find out what's in the dart?” Jack asked.

“I don't think he was done. What if there was a tracer or something?” Steve replied, looking excited.

“If there was a tracer...” Jack started.

“We could follow her,” Steve finished.

“We're turning into the science twins,” Jack laughed, wiping the tears from his face.

“Don't ever tell them that.” Steve replied. “Let's go see if Bruce is still in his lab.”

“Jarvis, is Dr. Banner in his lab?” Jack asked the AI. Steve was surprised that Jack had even thought about asking Jarvis. He had only been in the Tower a week and was already better adapted to it than Steve was.

“Dr. Banner is currently on his residential level.” Jarvis replied.

“So, we wait til morning.” Jack told Steve, laying down.

“No, we can go wake him up.” Steve argued, getting out of bed.

“Steve, it's not going to change anything.” Jack said softly. “She's gone.”

“How sure of that are you?”

“Can it be more than 100%?” Jack asked seriously. “There is zero chance she is still alive.”

“You're awfully negative about this,” Steve retorted angrily.

“I'm realistic!” Jack shouted back.

“You've given up on her!” Steve growled.

“It's not giving up if there isn't a chance it can work out.”

“She's been gone a week. She could still be alive.”

“She's fucking dead, Steve.” Jack shouted, losing his patience. “Even if we find her, we'll need a bag to haul her out!”

“Christ.” Steve groaned, sitting down at the end of the bed. Jack's certainty crashed over him. The tiny bit of hope he held onto dissolved and ran from his eyes in hot streams.

“Steve, she's gone.” Jack said softly, scooting down to wrap his arms around the man's broad shoulders. “I'm sorry. I don't want you to get your hopes up only to have them crushed. Even if there is a tracer...even if we can follow it...the best we can hope for is a body.”

“But how...?”

“That's what they did to the others. They dropped the bodies back off at the air strip, taunting us. One girl was still alive. We thought we could save her. We tried so hard to save her. But she was too far gone; even the blood couldn't help her. I mean, they at least had the serum. They lasted two days. Skye is strong – the strongest person I've ever met...But she doesn't have the serum to protect her. If they figure out she's been using the magic blood, she would be dead all the sooner. Besides, the longer she's alive the greater the chance she can break out. They wouldn't take that risk.”

The room was eerily quiet, only Steve's sobs breaking the silence.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short. The last one will be posted this weekend.


	30. I'm sorry, sissy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Jack talk to Bruce about the tracer; Jack breaks the news to the rest of the team.

 

The two woke early, both exhausted from their nighttime revelations. Jarvis woke them as soon as Bruce entered his lab. Steve stepped into the shower, using cold water to shock his brain into working. It was stuck on images of Skye being dissected, screaming in pain as they cut her open. The worst part was the scientists had quit asking questions; they were just hurting her for the sake of hurting her. Jack showered as well, then they headed to Bruce's lab.

“Morning,” Steve greeted, walking into Bruce's lab. Jack was hanging on his elbow, but Steve was used to that by now.

“You two are up early,” Bruce commented, glancing up from his microscope.

“We had a thought last night,” Steve shrugged. “Thought we might run it past you.”

“Shoot,” Bruce agreed, swiveling his stool to face the two. Steve glanced down at Jack, waiting for him to explain. Jack frowned but nodded.

“We couldn't figure out why Skye wouldn't come with me. If there was a sedative in the dart, she would have told me and I would have gotten her out of there. They weren't that close, that we didn't have time to book it. I made it out and I wasn't aware of the danger. We wondered if she _couldn't_ come with me. Like, if there was a tracer in the dart? They would be able to keep coming after her. I wouldn't be safe with her. She would make me leave.” Jack rambled. Steve recognized his nervous habit and pulled the man closer to comfort him.

“Would it be possible? To put a tracer in a dart like that?” Steve asked. Bruce looked intrigued at the idea.

“Theoretically, yes.” Bruce mused. “Let me look into this. You two go get some caffeine in your system. You look like you've had a hell of a night.”

“Let us know if you find anything?” Jack asked softly.

“I'll have Jarvis send for you the second I know anything.” Bruce agreed.

“Thanks,” Steve told the scientist seriously. He pulled Jack towards the elevator. They needed to get some food in their system. They hadn't eaten the night before. The rest of the team was already in the kitchen. Tony looked like he hadn't gone to bed at all. The coffee pot was empty, so Steve refilled it and waited for it to finish brewing.

“You're up early,” Jack commented, looking at Tony's wrinkled appearance.

“Couldn't sleep.” Tony muttered into his coffee cup.

“Doesn't look like you got much either,” Clint added. Jack shrugged and accepted the cup of coffee from Steve.

“We went to talk to Bruce this morning,” Jack explained.

“Care to elaborate?” Tasha asked, when Jack didn't continue.

“Steve and I were hung up on the idea that Skye should have come with me. Then we got to thinking maybe she _couldn't_ come with me.”

“There was something in the dart.” Clint gasped, catching on quickly.

“Maybe.” Jack shrugged. “Bruce is looking into the possibility of a tracer. That would explain why she sent me away.”

“But if there's a tracer, then we can find her.” Tony jumped in, grinning. Maybe this was the lead they needed to bring Skye's trail back to life. Steve abruptly left the kitchen, knowing Jack was going to give him the harsh dose of reality too. He didn't need to hear it again. Clint frowned, watching Steve's back as he walked away.

“Tony, you need to lower your expectations.” Jack said softly. He knew better than to shout the news now – he had learned that lesson with Steve.

“You said the issue was that you never had enough information. Now, we have the information.” Tony smiled, setting his coffee down.

“Maybe.” Tasha interjected. “We don't even know if there is a tracer in the dart yet.”

“True. But if there is, we'll have the man power _and_ the information. We can take those fuckers out.” Tony nodded.

“Tony, it's too late.” Jack interrupted, before Tony could get going. “At best, and I really mean at best, we're only going to find a body.”

“They would Erase her?” Tasha asked, grimacing.

“Eventually.” Jack nodded. Everyone in the kitchen blanched at what he wasn't saying.

“What are they going to do to her?” Tony asked. His eyes were closed while he asked, like it would block some of the hurt. Jack sighed.

“Anything they need to do to get the answers they want.”

“Anything?” Tony whispered. Now they knew why Steve walked out. Jack nodded slightly.

“Maybe, if we got to her earlier...like within the first day or two? ...But after this long?” Jack grunted.

“What are her chances?” Tony asked. “Give me a number.”

“Zero.” Jack replied instantly. The team could see the certainty, the distraught resolve in Jack's expression and knew he was being serious. They wouldn't get Skye back. At least, not the way she was – warm, happy, protective...alive.

“Do they know about 47? I mean, the whole blood thing?” Clint asked, wincing.

“Yes.” Jack replied briefly.

“Is that going to affect things?” Tasha asked softly. Tony squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the images away. He could guess the answer.

“Yes.” Jack replied again. “If they find out she's been using it, it would most definitely affect things...and not for the better.”

“What are they going to do?” Tony growled.

“The others...they sent them back to us in pieces.” Jack whispered.

“But Skye doesn't have the serum.” Tasha pointed out.

“Exactly. If they find out she's been using the magic blood, they're going to dissect her. They'll want to know just how the blood affects someone not on the serum.”

“Maybe she's still alive.” Tony said softly, his voice breaking.

“They wouldn't risk her escaping.” Jack contradicted softly. “Besides, they know all about the blood already – they've gotten to study the rest of Delta. They would, one hundred percent without a doubt, want to know how it affects someone without a serum.”

“And she couldn't be alive for that?” Clint pressed.

“No.” Jack replied firmly, shaking his head. “She wouldn't survive their methods. Honestly, it would be a kindness if they killed her day one, then did their experimenting.”

“Sir, Dr. Banner is requesting the team in his lab.” Jarvis announced, breaking the hush that had fallen over the kitchen.

“I'll grab Steve,” Jack muttered, eager to escape the kitchen.

The team assembled in Bruce's lab, looking ridiculously forlorn. Bruce grinned and wiggled the dart at them. He had just the news to perk them up.

“You were right. There is a tracer. I'll need Tony's help to build a receiver, but there is enough left in here that we should be able to follow the signal.” Bruce's grin fell when he noticed no one looked happy with his news. Steve punched the wall and left the lab.

“I'll be in my lab, when you're ready to work on this.” Tony muttered, then turned to leave as well.

“Um, we are going to go talk to Shield. We'll need some extra hands if we want to round up the whole crew. At the very least, we can make sure we shut them down for good.” Clint said softly, pulling Tasha from the lab. She looked shell shocked.

“What did I miss?” Bruce asked Jack. He was the only one left in the lab.

“This is great news, Dr. Banner. Thank you for looking into this,” Jack said softly, wiping the tear from his cheek quickly.

“Jack?”

“She's dead. There's no way she's still alive, not after this long. I didn't tell the others earlier. I didn't know how and I didn't want to crush them. But thanks to you, hopefully we can bring her body home.”

“Hopefully?” Bruce asked, frowning.

“If there's enough of her left.” Jack whispered.

“What are they going to do?” Bruce asked, swallowing his anger back quickly.

“Um...depends if they figure out she's been using 47's blood. They'll probably see if they can find differences between using the magic blood with the serum and without the serum.”

“The rest of the kids?”

“Yeah. They know we used the blood. They left us a message with one girl. Sent her back to us alive...kind of. We couldn't save her, even with the blood.” Jack admitted softly.

“Skye doesn't have the serum.” Bruce stated bluntly. A tear slipped over Jack's cheek as he nodded. “How long did the kids last?”

“Two days.” Jack whispered.

Bruce put the pieces together and growled deep in his throat. He understood Jack's certainty now. If the serum protected the kids and they only lasted two days, there was no way Skye could last the week she had been gone. He had never met the girl, but the rest of the Avengers felt strongly about her. That was enough to make him protective of her as well.

“I need to get to my cage,” Bruce growled, his voice deepening. Jack scrambled out of his way, letting Bruce escape the lab.

“I'm sorry, sissy.” Jack whispered, looking at the microscopic tracer Bruce had projected onto a screen. “We were too late.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end! There will be a part 3 up soon, but I haven't worked as far ahead as I wanted - so it won't be up immediately. In part 3, the team follows the tracer to find Skye and the scientists. The Avengers family gains a new member.


	31. Retrieval Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers gather the specialists while Tony, Banner, and Jack make a receiver to follow the tracer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm further behind than I realized with part 3, so I'm adding on a few chapters that were going to be the first chapters in part 3. You will probably get two, maybe three more chapters. I hope the extra closure will help you wait patiently for part 3.

 

“No,” Director Fury repeated flatly. Steve growled and shoved out of his chair. They had been arguing about this for over an hour.

“It's not only about her.” He gnashed out. “The scientists are probably going to be there. We can take the whole thing out. We _need_ to take the whole place down. You were worried about Centipede before – why aren't you worried about them now?”

“I'm not going to assign any specialists to this mission.” Fury repeated, shaking his head.

“So we can ask for volunteers?” Clint asked, his face stony with anger and annoyance.

“Look, you said yourself she's dead. When you get me more information, more _specific_ information, you can have as many specialists as you want.” Fury responded, raising his voice.

“We don't _have_ more information,” Tasha spat. “We're lucky to have a location.”

“You don't have that yet.”

“Banner and Stark are working on the receiver now.” Clint argued. Jack was there too, but they thought that might be counterproductive to convincing Fury to help.

“We're going whether you give us specialists or not – but don't expect to be kept in the loop if you make us do this alone.” Steve said finally. He was done arguing. Tasha and Clint nodded their agreement.

“I'm not assigning anyone,” Fury repeated, then swiveled his chair so his back was to them. The three Avengers left the office moodily. Once outside, Steve punched the wall hard enough to make chunks of brick fly. Tasha took his forearm.

“He never said we couldn't ask for volunteers.” She murmured.

“He's just not assigning us any. That means we can take whoever we want.” Clint agreed, forcing a small smile.

“Let's ask the ones that went in with us the first time. They would be the most willing to help, I think.” Steve sighed, brushing stone pieces from his knuckles.

“Let's start with Coulson's team.” Clint nodded. “He owes us...and their plane should be big enough for all of the scientists.”

“If they're back,” Tasha agreed.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

Half an hour later, thanks to Coulson paging the specialists they wanted, everyone was gathered in a conference room. The room was eerily quiet as all the specialists waited for one of the Avengers in front of them to speak. Finally, Coulson broke the silence.

“What's going on here?”

“We are going to have a location on the scientists from the Centipede Compound shortly.” Clint said after another extended silence. “Before we go into any more detail, you should know Fury isn't assigning anyone to this mission. We're asking for volunteers. You are free to decline. If you wish to back out, please do it now.” Clint added, waving towards the door. The specialists didn't move. If the Avengers were asking for help, they would be stupid to walk out.

“These scientists have done terrible things.” Tasha added, holding up a flash drive. She plugged it in and let the handful of images she selected run on the projector. “As you can see, they've been working on a serum that would turn children into super soldiers. At least, that's the impression we got after we rescued the children from that compound. Unfortunately, their formula is unstable at best and they're using innocents as lab rats. We saved the children, but we need to stop them so they can't start over.”

“How are we finding them?” Agent Ward asked, averting his eyes so he didn't have to see the images of the mutilated children. Tasha had deliberately picked gruesome pictures so the specialists would be properly motivated to get everyone.

“We have a tracer, at their new location.” Clint said softly. “Stark and Dr. Banner are building a receiver right now. Once it is complete, we'll be able to head straight to their location.”

“What kind of tracer?” Fitzsimmons asked, still looking horrified at the pictures. Fitz was more affected than Simmons, going so far as to put a hand up to block the images. Tasha noticed his discomfort and turned the projector off.

“Biological.” Clint answered shortly. Fitzsimmons frowned at his tone.

“What aren't you telling us?” Agent Triplett asked, leaning forward in his chair. “I'm in 100%, as are the rest of us,” the specialists nodded their agreement, “But you're not telling us something. Tell me it's not important and I'll drop it...but your attitudes suggest otherwise.”

“The scientists are important,” Clint nodded, exchanging a look with Tasha. “Top priority. We can't let even a single one escape.”

“But you're right. We have a secondary priority.” Tasha admitted, frowning at the team assembled in front of her. Steve crossed his arms and averted his eyes to the floor. He should be offering support, but he wasn't sure he could talk without his voice cracking. Already, hot tears were burning behind his eyes. “A body.”

“A body?” Agent Triplett confirmed, trying to catch Steve's eye. They had bonded during the last mission and over baby duty. When Steve refused to look up, Trip's concern doubled.

“A friend.” Clint clarified.

“You sent a friend into their compound? Alone?” One of the specialists asked, disgust clear in his tone.

“No. They were after her. She was shot with a dart. Along with a sedative, it had a tracer in it.” Clint replied, holding Tasha back.

“Ah, the biological aspect.” Simmons nodded. “It's in her bloodstream?”

“Yes,” Clint nodded, switching his grip around Tasha. He no longer had to restrain her, but she still needed his comfort.

“You said Mr. Stark was building the receiver. Maybe we could help,” Fitz offered, glancing at Simmons. She nodded.

“I could offer advice on the biological issue.”

“She's bio-chem.” Fitz agreed, though he said the words like he thought less of that program than his own. Clint nodded.

“Head back to the bus.” Coulson nodded, tilting his head towards the door. “You should be able to make a call through the command center to Stark Tower.”

“Yes, sir.” The two acknowledged, then shuffled from the room. Fitz realized he forgot his pretzels after they made it a few steps down the hallway and rushed back into the room.

“Sorry.” He rambled, grabbing the bowl from the table. In his haste, he spilled half of the pretzels all over the table and floor. “Bloody hell.” He scrambled to clean them all up, even while continuing his rambling. “It's Simmons' favorite bowl. She would kill me if I forgot it. Sorry.”

In his haste to scramble from the room, Fitz dropped the pretzels all over the floor again. He huffed loudly and scrambled to sweep them into the bowl again. He finally got the pretzels back in the bowl and turned to face the Avengers. His face was bright red and he was visibly cringing. “I'm so sorry.”

That made Steve crack a small smile, and he was damn grateful to the man for it. Finally able to push his grief back behind his mask, Steve entered the conversation for the first time.

“Agent Coulson has volunteered his plane for the mission. We're going to assume the receiver will be finished soon, with so many great minds working on it, so gather your gear and head to the Bus. Coulson, what dock are you in?”

“Dock Two.”

“We'll head to Stark Tower and wait there for Stark and Banner to finish. Questions?”

“Are you sure she's dead?” Ward asked, wincing like he knew it was the wrong thing to ask.

“This is a retrieval mission.” Clint nodded.

“We would be going in, even if the scientists weren't there...huh?” Trip asked, pushing out of his chair.

“She's important to us.” Tasha replied softly. “We take care of our own.”

“Even if that means we can only give her a proper burial.” Clint sighed, rubbing his palm across his forehead.

“Your other source?” Coulson asked softly, directing his comment towards Steve. Steve nodded, not trusting his voice. Clint dismissed the specialists, giving Tasha and Steve some privacy. He could feel them both breaking down. Coulson came closer, removing the table between them. “How's Jack taking that?”

“His sister is dead, how do you think he's taking it?” Steve asked bitterly.

“I didn't know they were related,” Coulson said softly, placing a hand on Steve's back. Clint pulled Tasha into a chair with him, letting her curl up on his lap.

“They're not blood.” Steve frowned, clearing his throat.

“The most important family is the family you choose for yourself.” Coulson nodded. He waited a beat, then asked the question that was on his mind. “You said they were after her.”

“Crap,” Clint groaned, annoyed with his own stupidity.

“I won't tell anyone.” Coulson offered. “But I'm damn curious.”

“She was in the way.” Tasha said hesitantly. “They want Jack.”

“So, what? Jack's group got out?”

“Yeah.” Steve nodded. “Skye got them out. She wasn't from the compound.”

“But you thought she was from there.” Coulson commented. They shrugged.

“She knew a lot about them. Too much, to not have come from that place. But Jack shined some light on that issue for us.” Clint replied.

“Tony finished the receiver,” Tasha told the group, glancing at her phone. She scrambled from Clint's lap, pulling him up once she was clear. “Let's go.”

 

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 

“Remember,” Steve repeated, reinforcing the mission debriefing. “No one gets by us. We _have_ to get everyone.”

“I don't see your position on the board,” Ward commented, cocking his head at the rough sketch. They had found blueprints from when the building was built, but it was an old building. Things could have changed.

“I'm following the tracer,” Steve replied.

It was easier to say it that way than to say he was going to find Skye's body. Her picture was on the board, supplied by Jack, just in case one of the specialists found her on their own. He swallowed hard and forced himself into composure. He had to get her back. Even if it was pieces. Even if it was ashes. He needed the closure. He never got it with Bucky – and then it turned out he hadn't died after all. Steve wouldn't make that mistake again – he wouldn't leave her behind.

The specialists headed down to the loading bay of the Bus, gathering there before the plane landed. There were enough jump seats that they could all strap in. Steve took one last look at Skye's smiling face and headed to the holotable in the command center. Fitzsimmons and Jack were huddled there, tinkering with the receiver and the holotable. “How's everything working?”

“It's brilliant,” Simmons offered, smiling up at Steve. She was practically bouncing with excitement. “If we can retrieve more of the tracer, we should be able to duplicate it and use it for Shield purposes.”

“What?” Fitz asked, turning his head to stare at Simmons. He looked mildly horrified.

“We could use a tracer like this.” Simmons repeated.

“Consider our company before you go off with heartless comments like that,” Fitz hissed, shooting Simmons a glare. She cleared her throat and blushed.

“I'm so sorry,” She apologized. “Fitz is right, of course. I got so wrapped up in the science that I forgot...”

“It's all right.” Jack interrupted before she could finish that sentence. He handed Steve a new coms device, which was bulkier than usual.

“What's this?” Steve asked, frowning. He wouldn't be able to wear his mask with this on.

“Sorry it's so big.” Jack shrugged. “With more time, Fitz and I can make it smaller. This is a prototype. It'll make it easier for us to track your movements and it has a relay for the receiver.”

“It also has a camera installed, so we can see what you see.” Fitz added, smiling at Jack. “We may see something you miss.”

“We've narrowed the general location down to the center of the complex,” Simmons commented, pulling up the blue prints on the holotable. “We'll get a more precise location as you get closer. The receiver is only picking up a faint reading, so the closer you are the stronger the signal will be.”

“You guys did great work,” Steve praised, slipping the com into his ear. Tony had commented how Fitzsimmons' input had solved the final issue they had with the receiver. It was thanks to them that the mission had pulled together so quickly.

“Landing in five,” May's voice rang through the intercom. “Everyone strap in.”

“I almost feel bad for the poor bastards on the receiving end of that,” Trip whispered to Ward, nodding towards the Avengers. Their game faces were on, but the grief and anger they were hiding lay just below the surface.

“Let's never get on their bad side,” Ward agreed.

 

 


	32. Too Much Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers and Specialists follow the tracer to a compound.

 

“Tony, he's coming out the back,” Steve grunted, rushing to catch the door the man shot out of before it clicked shut.

“On it. Any sign of her?” He asked, voice breaking.

“Nothing yet,” Steve replied, taking out a few guards that stood in his way.

Steve could hear his boosters through the coms and knew Tony was flying. Steve pushed back Jack's warning that if, _when_ , they found her, it might not be in the form they were expecting. The best they could hope for was to find her body so they could give her a proper burial. Tasha was adamant that her body wouldn't make it to the furnace room, as she had dubbed it. They wouldn't allow Skye to be Erased. A tiny voice whispered to Steve, _Jack could be wrong. She could still be alive._ Steve was holding onto that; preparing for the worst, hoping for the best.

“It's just a custodian,” Tony sighed. “Where are all the damn scientists?”

“You're almost there,” Fitz told Steve through his com device. “Second door on your right.”

“Got it,” Steve acknowledged, taking out his anger, frustration, and grief on the next three soldiers in his way. He was so close to her and they weren't going to stop him. Finally, the hallway was clear. Steve took a breath to prepare himself, then pushed the door open.

The smell of decaying flesh immediately hit him hard. Steve groaned in disgust and nausea. Skye could be in this rotting mess. The room had table after table of mutilated bodies.

“Is she there?” Jack asked softly, correctly interpreting Steve's groan.

“I really hope not.” Steve replied, stepping up to the first table. He inspected the body thoroughly, determined it wasn't Skye, and moved on to the next table. When he stepped up to the last table, he easily dismissed the male body. These bodies were much too small to belong to Skye, but he had to check. The tattoos on their wrists identified them as Group Psi, the group that was unaccounted for. Well, that mystery was solved. But where was Skye? “She's not here.”

“You're almost on top of her,” Fitz sounded in his ear. “She's definitely nearby.”

“There's nothing else here, Fitz.” Steve sighed. He glanced around the room, tossing his hands up in frustration. He had been told there was going to be something to recover. He needed _something_ to recover.

“If the tracer is still in her blood, it could be possible that there are just remnants on the floor.” Simmons chipped in. “She could be long gone and we could be...”

“Wait, there's another door,” Fitz interrupted. Steve noticed what Fitz had seen and pulled a bookcase from the wall. It hadn't been closed all the way and Steve caught a faint sliver of light peeking out from behind it. Steve slipped inside the room and flipped on a light.

And his world stopped turning.

“Damn.” He exhaled.

“Steve? What's happening?” Tony buzzed in his ear. “Did you find her?”

“Fitz, this is where the reading is coming from?” Steve asked softly.

“Yes,” Fitz replied firmly. “You're right on top of it.”

“Oh, no.” Jack whispered, seeing what Steve was seeing on their computer.

“Steven Grant Rogers, answer me!” Tony shouted angrily.

“She's gone.” Steve answered finally.

“Shit.” Clint cussed.

“бедняга [poor thing],” Tasha murmured, her spider bites could be heard zapping someone in the background.

“You're sure?” Tony asked.

“He's sure.” Jack replied for Steve, when he didn't answer. Steve was still staring at the medical table. The bloody table.

“I'm coming in,” Tony said finally. He needed answers and it seemed Steve was incapable of giving them right now.

Steve was still staring at the table when Tony joined him. Blood covered the table, but had also dripped over the edge and pooled on the floor. Some had splattered onto a nearby wall and a surgical tray of tools was also covered. She had struggled.

“It's too much blood.” Steve muttered finally. There was no way she survived losing that much blood. Any small hope he had about finding her alive vanished. He was an optimistic person... But now...with this evidence? She was gone. They were too late. He didn't even have a body to say good bye to.

“We found the Eraser,” Tasha growled. “The safety locks were engaged. It was too warm to get inside.”

“According to the log, it hasn't been used in weeks.” Clint added. “That doesn't necessarily mean it hasn't been used, but they're pretty thorough with their logs. They have a session scheduled for tomorrow.”

“I found Group Psi,” Steve grunted. “They're dead.”

“That's Psi?” Tony asked, hooking his thumb back towards the room he had walked through to get to Steve.

“They have the right numbers and the symbol,” Steve nodded.

“We should get them out,” Jack said softly. “We couldn't do anything for the other groups...but she would have wanted us to give these kids a proper burial.”

“They're so little,” Steve sighed, pinching his eyes shut. He knew the scientists liked to start young...but knowing something and seeing something first hand were different things. Had all of the groups been that small at one point? Children didn't deserve this. Had Jack been this little? Had Steven? He hoped the children were dead before the mutilations happened. The unsteady cuts he saw on some of the bodies suggested otherwise, so he shoved that thought aside before his breakfast came up.

“Simmons, bring a kit. I want to make sure this is Skye's blood.” Tony said, taking control of the situation as a distraction. He could see Steve was barely holding it together and they couldn't afford to both break down.

“Mr. Stark, the tracer...” Fitz started to say.

“I know, but I need to know. I need to know for sure.” Tony interrupted.

“I'll need Dr. Banner to send me a sample of her blood,” Simmons said softly. “The tracer won't be a good indicator. We already know the tracer is in that room.”

“Jack, call Bruce.” Tony replied. “My pillow has a sample of her blood on it.”

“It's too small,” Jack replied.

“That's what we have.” Tony replied firmly. “A few markers will have to be good enough.”

“Fitz, could you send a few specialists in?” Steve asked, turning back to the room with the children. “They'll need the small body bags and some backboards. We can get these kids out of here while we wait for that blood sample to come through.”

“How many are there?” Fitz asked softly. Steve could hear his disgust and discomfort.

“27,” Steve replied. He had slipped into his Captain America persona, so his voice was more stern than he intended, but he needed that mask to hide behind. He couldn't be Steve right now – Steve wasn't strong enough to deal with all of this. Captain America though? Captain America could do anything.

“There were more on the file,” Clint offered, walking into the room with Tasha. They had the log from the Eraser and a hard drive in hand.

“Three are missing,” Tasha nodded.

“Is that the information from the server?” Tony asked Clint, nodding towards the drive. Clint nodded.

“Everything we could get off it.”

“Anything could have happened to the missing three,” Steve nodded. “They might not have survived the injection. We don't know anything about this group – their file was incomplete.”

“It doesn't look like they have a spine.” Clint noted. He had slipped a glove on and had turned a mutilated torso over, looking for the attachment.

“I don't even see a mark where they might have removed one.” Tasha added, looking over Clint's shoulder.

“Jesus Christ,” Trip groaned, walking in the door with a wad of body bags under one arm and a stack of backboards gripped in his hands.

“It helps if you don't breathe too deeply,” Tony offered, closing the bookcase door behind him. Right now, he needed to put Skye out of mind. Until that blood sample came through, he couldn't do anything for her. But he could help take care of these kids.

“They're so small.” Trip frowned, slipping into his specialist mask.

“They're six.” Tasha offered.

“More or less.” Clint nodded, taking the bags from Trip.

“Fuck me.” Ward commented, walking into the room with an armful of supplies. “I really thought those pictures were exaggerated.”

“Those pictures were the side effects of the serum,” Tony informed Ward. “This is just psychos chopping kids up.”

“What were they trying to do?” Trip asked, taking a pair of shoulder length gloves from a third specialist who had entered the room behind Ward.

“Who fucking knows.” Clint growled.

“They wanted super soldiers.” Tasha shrugged.

“Not sure why they needed to do this, though.” Tony agreed.

“Did you find your friend?” Trip asked softly, noticing all the bodies were small children.

“In a way,” Tony replied, absentmindedly waving towards the hidden room. Trip frowned with confusion, but let the topic fall.

“Let's get them out of here,” Steve commanded, taking control like he was supposed to.

It took the seven of them about half an hour to bag and remove all of the children. By then, Bruce had sent a blood sample to Simmons and she was on her way to test the sample from the other room. Jack escorted her in, stating he needed to be where his sister was. He needed to be where she died.

His face was red and blotchy, and he was still crying. Steve wished he could break down like that. Maybe he would feel better to just let it out. Steve opened his arms to him, enveloping him in a hug.

“It's a match,” Simmons confirmed a minute later, glancing up from the tablet she brought with her. Fitz had brought his Dwarfs in to help her analyze the room.

“So this is Skye's?” Jack asked, clenching his jaw. “All of this?”

“I'm so sorry Jack,” Simmons nodded. “It's all from the same source. A woman of Skye's size would have about 5 liters of blood. The Dwarfs are reading about four liters here.”

She couldn't have survived that much blood loss. Even with blood transfusions, her organs wouldn't be able to operate with only a liter of blood in her body. In a twisted way, Steve got the closure he was seeking; she was dead. No doubt about it. He just wished he had a body to say good bye to.

Jack turned and hurried from the room. Steve heard the sob that tore from his throat and followed him into the hall.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm giving you guys one more chapter after this, then it'll be radio silent for a week or two while I work on part 3.


	33. Memorial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team confirms Skye's death. They plan a memorial for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just...don't hate me.

 

“Everyone on board?” May asked, powering up the Bus.

“Ready when you are,” Coulson replied, eyeing his Avengers. They looked shell shocked. Numb. Jack had curled his knees up into his chest, silent tears still streaming down his cheeks. Steve was leaning forward, hiding his face in his hands. Clint kept swallowing hard, his eyes unfocused on the floor ahead of him. Tasha was sporting a mask of ice that would have scared Coulson a lot more if he didn't know what she was hiding beneath it. Tony was rolling his jaw, distracting himself on his phone. Coulson sighed and sat himself in a jump seat, strapping himself in for take off. The Bus lurched into the air, jostling the silent passengers.

“All clear,” May announced once the plane was in the air and stable.

There was a long beat of silence, then Jack leaned forward to look at Clint.

“I want to see the hard drive,” Jack said softly. Clint blinked and focused on Jack, swallowing hard before replying.

“Jack, I'm not sure now is the time...”

“I want the fucking hard drive!” Jack shouted, losing grip of his temper. A few specialists' heads jerked up at his tone, though they were far enough forward in the plane that they might not have heard the words. Clint glanced at Steve, but Steve didn't raise his head to see the look.

“Give it to him,” Tony said softly. Clint's head whipped around to look at Tony.

“Are you crazy?”

“Give it to him.” Tony repeated. Jack unstrapped himself and stood in front of Clint, hand outstretched. Clint pursed his lips, nodded, and dug in his pocket for the hard drive. Steve unstrapped as well, standing behind Jack.

“Can I go with you?” Steve asked softly, forcing himself to ask Jack for permission instead of just insisting. Jack swallowed hard and nodded. The remaining Avengers looked up at Jack with their own requests shining in their eyes.

“You might as well all come,” Jack said softly.

“You can use the command center.” Coulson offered, remaining separate from the group. “My team will make sure you have some privacy.”

“Thanks, Agent.” Tony said, putting his phone away. He kept his eyes far from everyone's eyes. He didn't want them to see the tears that were hiding there.

He had vowed to find her, to save her. Well, he had failed at both. He didn't find her. He found a bloody pool. He sure as hell didn't save her. Why hadn't he thought of checking for a tracer earlier? Looking back, it seemed like a stupidly logical thing to check for. The weight of his disappointment and failure weighed heavily on his shoulders. She was important. He couldn't understand why – but she was important to him. And he failed her.

“Whatever you need,” Coulson replied, gesturing to the command center. The Avengers stood and followed Jack. They passed through the specialists who were crowded in the loading dock. They fell silent as they passed through, each specialist wondering who they lost that was so important.

“Fitz, make sure everyone stays away from the command center.” Coulson ordered when they ran into the man.

“Yes, sir.” Fitz nodded. He ran ahead of Jack and activated the privacy glass, shielding the room from prying eyes. He waited until they were all inside, then slipped out the door. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Fitz.” Jack said softly, eyeballing the hard drive. He turned it over in his hand, working up the will to plug it in. Finally, he took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. He plugged the drive in, then carefully navigated the pages to find the security camera logs. He went back a week, hitting play on the day that Skye was taken.

The halls were silent. Empty. A lone lab tech walked into the frame and into the room Skye was being held. It was too early in the day for Skye to be there yet, so Jack fast forwarded a bit. The empty halls blurred as he jumped frames quickly, and then there was nothing but static.

“What happened?” Jack asked. Tony nudged him out of the way, taking control of the computer.

“Look at the time stamp.” Tony sighed. It was a few hours after Skye was taken. Suddenly sure of what happened, Tony fast forwarded. Suddenly the static stopped and guards were running down the hall.

“ _We've got it,” One shouted into his radio._

“ _Repeat,” A jumbled voice ordered through the radio._

“ _Found it in the control room. Secure.”_

“ _Good. Bring it back.”_

Skye was dragged on frame, two guards holding her between them. A dozen additional guards surrounded them, escorting them down the hall. She was bloody and weak, struggling to twist free but unable to do so. She was wearing very little. A sports bra and short black pants. She realized she couldn't get free by force and started talking quickly in the mash up. Her tone was firm, insistent. She put her feet out in front of her, trying to get traction to drag them to a stop. She started having a panic attack, her words started coming out jumbled and shaky. She no longer seemed in control. The guards seemed to hesitate, slowing slightly.

“ _Ignore it.” The voice ordered from the radio. “It's lying. Bring it to me.”_

“ _Yes, sir.”_

The guards dragged her the remaining hundred feet to the room Steve found the mutilated children, then parted to let the two guards holding her bring her into the room. The door slammed shut behind the guards, leaving the hallway empty again. This time though, there were two bloody streaks down the hall from Skye's feet. Tony scrambled to find the screen that would let them see within the room. After a second, the room was on screen. The guards lifted Skye onto the table and tried to pin her wrists and ankles.

Skye had found her second wind though, and they couldn't get her into the straps. Her body lurched from the table, refusing to give in. Two more guards stepped forward and between the four of them, they were able to get her restrained. She screamed and fought against the restraints, breaking down after a few minutes.

“ _Let me out,” She sobbed. “I'll stay, just let me out.”_

“ _Sorry.” A man grinned, stepping into the room._

Steve recognized him as one of the scientists that the children had drawn for Jack, when he needed to deprogram Tau. He silently memorized that face; he was a dead man when they found him.

“ _You see, we've gotten all we need from you. Frankly, you lasted longer than I thought you would. Certainly longer than you should have. But don't worry, I'll make sure you get what's coming to you.”_

The man stepped forward to grab a scalpel from the surgical tray. He twirled it in his fingers before plunging it into Skye's leg. Skye screamed and thrashed, slipping in the blood as it flowed from her body. Some splattered the guards, but more ended up on the surgical tray and wall. Blood made her restraints slippery and she was able to slip one foot free. The scientist stepped in with the scalpel, so she kicked him in the chest. He stumbled back, gasping for breath. Skye hurried to push her other foot free, using the blood to make the removal easier. With a flick of his fingers, the guards were on Skye, restraining her again.

“ _Tighter.” The scientist growled angrily._

Skye allowed herself one more shaking sob before composing herself. She could see the pleasure the scientist was taking out of her pain and refused to let him see more. She grit her teeth and pressed her lips together tightly, keeping herself together by sheer force.

“ _Scream for me again!”_ _The scientist yelled, stabbing Skye quickly in several places._

Blood gushed out of her wounds. He had hit arteries. It was a small thing, that at least she would bleed out quickly. The blood welled up at the edges of the table and finally spilled over onto the floor. Though Skye's chin trembled, she raised it stubbornly and took a deep breath.

“ _It was worth it.” She whispered, growing pale. “Every second.”_

_Skye exhaled slowly, falling still. She didn't draw another breath. The tension in her body released slowly, until she was laying in the warm bath of her own blood._

“ _Good riddance.” The scientist sighed, looking at the blood on his chest. “Get her out of my sight. Prep the Eraser.”_

The scientist stepped from the room, holding his bloody hands out from his sides so he wouldn't get any more dirty. The guards obediently stepped up to do as he ordered.

The only sound in the command center was Jack's sobs. There wasn't a dry eye in the room, but the others were more experienced at hiding their emotions.

“What did she say?” Clint asked finally. “In the hall.”

“First, she was trying to override their programming.” Jack replied. He shrugged softly. “She never was any good at that. When she broke down, she was trying to explain to the guards she wasn't the one. She wasn't who they thought she was.” Jack whispered.

“47?” Tasha asked, her voice surprisingly cold.

“I don't know. I'm assuming so.” Jack shrugged sadly.

“She erased the footage.” Steve stated, letting his voice be Captain America stern. Captain America didn't cry.

“Protecting you until the end.” Tony stated.

“This was two hours ago.” Tasha growled. “Two hours. They're always just ahead of us.”

“The blood was still tacky.” Steve acknowledged.

“She should have left.” Jack shuddered, suddenly angry. “It was stupid to go to the fucking control room when she had a chance to get out.”

“She knew she didn't have a good chance.” Tony said softly, pulling up the security feed again, this time panning out to the outer halls and outside. Guards were everywhere.

“She had a choice to make.” Steve said softly. “She was weak, exhausted. She knew she couldn't take on that many guards. She knew we would be looking, but she had no idea we were coming. She chose you.”

“She should have chose herself!” Jack shouted. “For once in her life, she should have thought about herself!”

“You always were her most important thing,” Steve murmured, pulling Jack into a hug. Jack resisted for a minute, then gave in and sobbed into Steve's chest.

“But she was my most important thing, too. And now she's gone.”

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“She wouldn't have wanted a funeral.” Jack told Tony again, sounding frustrated. Steve finished pulling on his clean shirt and stepped into the room.

“Tony, listen to him.” Steve murmured, quickly gathering what the issue was.

“We don't have anyone. No one would come.” Jack told Tony again, shaking his head quickly. “Besides, she wouldn't want that much attention. No funeral.”

“Well, we have to do something. I'm doing _something_.” Tony said firmly, crossing his arms defiantly.

“We have your blanket, from the park.” Steve offered to Jack. “We forgot about it in the chaos of you two leaving. It's still in interrogation.”

“We could have lunch in the park.” Jack nodded. “She would like that. She loved that park.”

“Then it's settled.” Steve announced, cutting off Tony's retort with a firm look. Tony sighed and tossed his hands up.

“Fine.”

“Can I go get the blanket?” Jack asked. Steve nodded and he headed for the elevator.

“Tony, I know this isn't what you want...but it's not about you.” Steve told Tony.

“She should have the best.” Tony growled, taking a long swig of bourbon. “I want her to have the best.”

“Well, for Skye – simple is best. Jack was right – she loved that park. It would be a fitting memorial.”

“Do you think they Erased her?” Tony asked, quickly wiping his cheeks. “Tasha said the Eraser was too hot to get into. The scientist ordered the guards to do it.”

“I don't know Tony. You have the hard drive. Follow her a little further.” Steve shrugged, swallowing back his own tears.

“I don't think I can do that.” Tony frowned. “Not right now, at least. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Well, tomorrow then.” Steve replied, working to make his voice kinder. Everyone had their masks on and it was resulting in some pretty harsh sounding conversations.

“It was bad, though. Right?” Tony asked, pulling at his hair. “Bad enough that she broke out to erase it. Bad enough that she didn't want us to see.”

“I'm going to go help Jack,” Steve growled, turning and walking from the room before he lashed out at Tony. He wanted to bury those images. He wanted them out of his head. But Tony kept bringing it back up and he was dangerously close to losing his cool. His imagination was good enough at conjuring images of what she could have erased; he didn't need Tony's speculation to add to it.

 

0-0-0-0-0

 

“I brought another blanket,” Clint said softly, joining the team in the park. Jack had picked a spot against a tree. Steve seemed to understand the significance, but it was lost on everyone else. He tossed the blanket out, spreading it on the grass.

“I got coffee,” Tasha offered, smirking slightly at Steve. He chuckled lightly, recognizing the logo on the cup. Tasha sat next to Jack, throwing her arm around his shoulder. “First time I saw Skye, you were getting coffee with her.”

“Coffee you had to buy her cause you couldn't convince me to go on a date with you,” Steve added, smiling fondly.

“I still hold that it was a good choice,” Jack grumbled. He tried for a smile, but failed.

“Some...what did she call him? A pansy? Some pansy said something to you and she knocked him out.” Tasha smirked, nudging Jack. Tony laughed lightly.

“I didn't know that.”

“I told her to stop punching everyone who was unkind.” Jack laughed wetly. “She just snorted and told me that he needed to learn to take a punch.”

“Knowing what I know about Skye, I don't really think that was a fair expectation.” Clint chuckled, flopping back on the blanket. “My first impression of Skye was over the intercom. I was listening in to your elevator conversation.”

“Oh God. The elevator conversation.” Steve groaned, rubbing his hands over his face.

“First thing I heard her say was something about boo boos.” Clint chuckled. He pointed a finger at Steve. “Said _you_ had to kiss them all better.”

“He was grumpy.” Tasha nodded. “His crush was a baddie. Skye suggested I put him in a better mood. It was the suggestive eyebrow waggle that almost did me in.”

“Oh, God. She would.” Jack chortled. He had gotten a jumbled version of the story from Skye over the last few months, but it was an unspoken rule that he wasn't allowed to ask Skye about Steve. It made her sad to talk about him.

“That's when the internet theories made their appearance.” Clint laughed, throwing his head back. “Nat had to bail. She couldn't keep a straight face.”

“You were crying in the back room,” Tasha shot back.

“Steve's face...” Clint giggled. “I thought his ears were going to melt off his head.”

“She had a fantastic sense of humor.” Tony smiled. The group fell silent, staring up into the clouds instead of looking at each other. It seemed colossally unfair that the day was so nice. Warm, but not hot. A slight breeze to keep the bugs away. The sun out, but not glaring down on them. It would have been Skye's perfect day at the park. Tony cleared his throat loudly. “My first impression of her was a mix of being impressed by her skills and her concern for you.”

“When she found out we had you, the first thing she said was that she would come fix it. We just needed to let you go.” Steve nodded.

“In the interrogation room, she brought herself, essentially, but the first thing she asked when she saw you was if you were alright. Then she broke you out of your handcuffs.” Tony nodded. “She didn't take any shit from us. She wasn't afraid to call us on our shit – nobody does that. She smacked Clint within minutes of meeting him...”

“...bumped hips with me when Steve wouldn't let her properly introduce herself...” Tasha added.

“Called me out about my behavior towards you.” Steve muttered, ducking his head.

“And she surely wasn't afraid to throw in my face just how much power she had over me and my system.” Tony nodded.

“She doesn't...didn't,” Jack corrected himself and swallowed hard, “She didn't take shit from anyone.”

“My second impression was that she was a firecracker.” Tony grinned. “Her easy humor. God, the way she laughed at our theme music.”

“You had to turn away,” Jack laughed lightly. “We saw you trying to wipe the smile off your face.”

“She just got me.” Tony shrugged. “Our sense of humor is the same. Maybe that's why I was so taken with her so quickly.”

“The first time I met her, I didn't realize she was the girl from the park. I didn't realize she was with you.” Steve admitted, ducking his head. “Never got a good look at her with you. I was being dumb, mocking that I could lap her during my morning run. I was disappointed when she didn't seem frustrated...so I tried harder.”

“You winked at her.” Jack chuckled.

“I winked at her.” Steve nodded. “Stupidest thing I've done in a while. The next time I lapped her, she stuck her foot out and tripped me. I had to tuck and roll to avoid face planting into the concrete.”

“Ah, Face Plant.” Clint smirked. He liked that Skye picked him a nickname that reminded Steve of his stupidity. There weren't very many people who could put him in his place.

“She apologized for tripping me, even though I was being a jerk.” Steve smirked. “Then she went on to say she was glad I wasn't injured because she didn't want to have to explain to the Avengers how she hurt their Grandpa.”

“New job title,” Tony chuckled, pointing a finger at Steve. “Avenger Team Captain and Resident Grandpa.”

“The first time I remember seeing Skye,” Jack said softly. “She was sneaking into our room after a test. We thought she was a scientist, but she knew the language. It's hard to learn our language. The words are language specific; it sounds like jibberish, but we would have known. We would have known she wasn't one of us. She calmed us right down, then fixed us up. She was our angel.”

“How old were you?” Tony asked, flipping over to play with a few blades of grass.

“I don't know.” Jack shrugged. “Young.”

“You were ten when she broke you out,” Steve mused. “How many times did she visit?”

“I don't know. A lot. Sometimes we were too fucked to even notice she was there. But then we'd wake in the morning and be healed...and we just knew she had been looking out for us. She was always looking out for us.”

“You heard what she said,” Steve said quietly. “It was worth every second for her. She loved you. She died thinking of you.”

“Just ignore the bad stuff and remember that,” Clint nodded. “Remember how much she loved you.”

“Do you guys mind if I stay a little longer?” Jack whispered. “Alone?”

“Anything you need.” Tasha nodded, getting up off the blanket. She pulled Clint up, giving Steve and Tony a look that suggested they start moving.

“We'll see you back at the Tower?” Tony asked, picking up the extra blanket.

“Yeah.” Jack nodded. He saw Steve's disbelief and smiled sadly. “I don't really have other options right now, Steve. You even have our van. I promise, I'll be back. I just need a little time.”

“Okay,” Steve nodded, trusting his word. Clint waited until they were a good distance from Jack, checking over his shoulder that he wasn't listening.

“I'll hang out. Somewhere high. Keep an eye on him.” He offered. “I know he wants to be alone, but we promised to keep him safe.”

“Keep him safe,” Steve nodded. “We'll see you back at the Tower.”

“Gotcha.” Clint replied, then headed off in a different direction.

“Hey, don't forget, she cared about you too.” Tasha said softly, bumping her hip into Steve's side. Steve just hung his head, unsure what to say in response to that. Tony hummed his agreement with her words, which only worked to stoke the red hot coals of Steve's anger. They were laying in wait, simmering beneath his calm demeanor. He would use that anger to get whatever answers he could get. He felt detached pity for what he was going to do to the scientists when they found them.

“She didn't care enough to let me protect her.” Steve muttered, then stormed off before he took his frustrations out on his teammates. They didn't deserve it.

“The kid's got a damn hero complex,” Tony muttered.

“Kid.” Tasha snorted. “He's easily twice your age.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I also know what he means.” Tasha said sadly. “She should have taken us up on our offer.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, last chapter for real this time! See you guys soon. Thanks for all the support!~


End file.
